Smoldering Embers
by Punk19
Summary: The sequel to The Misty Fire. TazirVile Surfeit and his daughter, Eshal, are stuck on Earth with their family for six months. Will they last the tenure of their stay, then get their family back on Moas, or will something happen to prevent their hope in returning to Moas from happening?
1. Part 1

While doing the dishes, Mitzi Klied thought about the two pressing things that were giving her cause for concern. One revolved around the weather. Spring would usually show its face by now. Usually, by the middle-part of April, she and the ones who lived in her corner of Germany would be experiencing the start of warmer temperatures. Along with the average temperature of 14.1 degrees Celsius being experienced, she and the ones around her would be seeing the foliage starting to come to life and the local animals stirring from their lengthy slumbers.

This wasn't present on this year. Unlike the previous year's April, where the weather was very on-schedule, this year's April saw days where it was Spring-like, where torrential thunderstorms were present, where it was windy, and where it was both very, very cold and snowing. She and the neighbors had since abandoned any hope in getting their flowerbeds or gardens fixed up; with the weather being the way it was, they just saw no reason to do so.

From the eighteenth of April to the twenty-fifth, it was either moderately warm or blisteringly hot. She and the ones in her household, and most of her neighbors, had relished in the change in temperature. If it was pleasant for outside activity to happen, they'd go out and stay out for a while and, if it wasn't, they'd still go out... but only for a short while before coming back in to get cool. Following April 25, they were back inside; winter coats and other items were donned if they went outside and warm dishes or beverages were consumed.

"Been down in the single-digits for six days now..." Mitzi thought while putting the iron skillet, that her grandmother use to use, and that was passed down from mother to oldest daughter, in the dish drain.

While the concern of a possible global climate shift was heavy on both her and the scientists' minds, she had the other issue to keep her somewhat balanced. After April 25 came and went, she realized that she hadn't seen a thing of the ones who lived beside her and her family. None of the younger members of the neighboring household had come out to enjoy the good or somewhat pleasant weather that happened between April 18 and 25; she saw the woman of the household's car being used on them days but nothing of her or her sons were seen by either her or her husband. After realizing this, she began to worry about them. While her neighbors weren't a loud bunch by any means, they weren't quiet either. It took her another day before she noticed that the house looked different... and that it had two, new occupants to it.

"It was cold on the twenty-seventh, but she was still seen as walking around the backyard." she thought after putting two plates, five forks, six spoons, and a normal pan in the dish drain.

The water in the sink kept its suds as she continued on with the dishes. While cleaning the remaining dishes that had yet to be cleaned, she thought about the neighborhood that she and her family were living in and about what she was seeing over the last couple of days.

The subdivision of Grün Bach wasn't a relatively new one, and she and her family weren't new residents to it. From what she and her husband were able to gather, it was going on three hundred and twelve years—this was a surprise, considering the fact that its residences were of the current era and that the soil, that they were on, was both solid and fertile. She, her husband, and their oldest daughter had moved to it fifteen years ago, after the Kreiskrankenhaus was rebuilt and then found to be understaffed. Before the move was made, the three of them were living in the spa and border town of Aechen, which was in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

While she and Kurt weren't in with the popular crowd in their hometown's school, they were sweethearts. Instead of finding some other University to attend, Kurt followed her to the RWTH Aachen University—or the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen. The two of them gained their nursing degrees while being in that school and they continued dating too; almost immediately after graduation occurred, the ring was presented, then placed on her finger, then the trip to the alter was made. Instead of having kids right away, they waited—their schedules were just too congested for them to consider making a family. After a few years passed, and their schedules evened out, they stopped using the pill and condom then started making a family; their oldest daughter, who was given the name of Petra Carlene Klied, was born about a year later. They raised their daughter in Aechen for three years before the move to Baden Württemberg, and then Elchesheim-Illingen, was made.

The cause of the move was based on their having positions assured at Rastatt's Kreiskrankenhaus. No help by their kin was given during the move; they had to rely on either themselves or the church to get their things from Aechen to Elchesheim-Illingen. Once the move was done, both she and her husband cuts ties with their respective families. With all the excuses being made, or promises being made but not kept, and with all the eluding happening, they just saw need in doing so. Their youngest daughter, who was given the name of Sarah Victoria Klied, was conceived and then born five years after the move occurred.

"When we moved in, to about six years ago, there was nothing but forest to our right."

It was an almost overnight thing when the bulldozers came in to clear the land for the contractors who wanted to begin the process of building more houses. She and her family had watched as the land was cleared of its forest foliage, and as the houses were built; the ones across the street were built first then the ones beside the one that they were living in were built. People had started flocking to the street about two months after them houses were built and then put on realtor websites—the old saying of, if you build them, they will come, had come true on them houses.

Of the houses that were built five, going on six years ago, only two had more than one owner. The one that Miss. Amelinda Schmidt and her fiancé, Mr. Azzo Kaiser, lived in was owned by a couple that had a baby girl, while the one that the Irene family lived in was owned by a bunch of rich snobs named Kamilla and Luther Kaufer. Unlike the Zhōu's, who moved to a house nearby, the Kaufer's lost their house to foreclosure; no one had shed a tear over their leaving the neighborhood. The Kaufer's weren't really good, or nice, people. Always snapping at others, or spreading around all of what they were told of their neighbors, or giving the neighborhood children grief. The house that the Kaufer's lived in wasn't lived in for nearly two years; everyone was shocked when the new family was seen last year, on the thirty-first of July. No one had expected for the planet's heroine, or her five sons, to move into the neighborhood and no one had expected to see the country's president, Stefan A. Leinart, helping them out in getting settled in their new house.

"Nothing very significant happened after they moved in. The Irene's, even after the ones who took up residence in the nearby Rastatter Rheinaue nature reserve were noted as being in the area, had remained peaceful and polite to others and Miss. Irene also helped when times of stress came around."

While it took a while, the changes to the house that the Irene's lived in were noticed after the ones who took up residence in the nearby nature reserve left the area.

If one was looking from across the street, the changes wouldn't be all that notable. The two-level house, that was made out of dark red bricks, and that had dark gray shingles on its roof, would have to be looked at from the side before the changes could be seen. The front yard was the same; with the sudden, erratic changes in the weather over the last couple of months, all of the trees that grew in it were leave-less. There was a large, lone, Yoshino Cherry tree in the center of the yard while, to the yard's far right side, sat two, red-flowering Dogwood trees. Along with having smooth, round white stones around the bases of their trunks, the Dogwood trees had a bench between them. A line of bright pink, Dwarf Crepe Myrtle trees flanked the left side of the driveway, which was newly paved; the right side of the driveway was bare of trees or other yard foliage. A free standing, steel structured carport was at the end of the driveway; along with being flush against the side of the building, it had just one of the two resident family's cars under it.

The backyard was also the same. The semi-circle of yellow-flowing, Guayacan trees was still there, as were the two Photinia trees and the one Linden tree. Like with the front yard, all of these trees were leave-less.

The house, from the side, looked... different. Bigger or wider, for some reason. Like it was expanded or grown out from the inside or something. That wasn't the only thing that was different, though. There seemed to be a lot of activity going on in it two weeks ago; a lot of visitors and some loud conversation—which was only heard for a few minutes before dying completely out. It was a while after them visitors, who none of them were able to see, left before anyone in her household saw the two, newcomers to the house. The girl, who looked to resemble some of the boys who lived in the house, was usually seen in the backyard or front porch while the man, who had a very striking resemblance to three of the five Irene boys, was usually seen in the afternoon, when it was mail-time. He'd just come out from the house, walk across the front yard, collect the mail, then go back in. No word or acknowledgement would come from him. He'd just collect the mail then go in.

"Which is very odd..." Mitzi said aloud. With the dishes now being done in being cleaned, she pulled the plug to the sink. As the soapy water ran down the drain noisily, she turned her gaze to the window that overlooked the sink.

Her husband, who started disclosing what he was seeing on the house on the twenty-ninth of last month, also thought that was strange. While they believed that Miss. Irene had all right of letting whoever she wanted into her house, and of entertaining or having company stay over, they still thought that she let a strange, unknown bunch into her house. They were slightly concerned for the family... especially so on Miss. Irene's children. After seeing the two new ones who seemed to be living in the house, both she and Kurt had realized that the five Irene boys had stopped doing as they usually did during the day hours. The five boys usually left after their mutter did and they usually stayed out until just before seven. Nowadays, they didn't do that. If they left the house for any reason, it was only for a short while; the use of their car had also stopped. While Miss. Irene owned and drove one of them new, Porsche D2's, her sons had one of them i8 BMW's; while the BMW's usage had stopped, the Porsche's hadn't.

"The only one who's been coming out and spending any length of time outside these last few days is Hazaar." Mitzi thought while training her attention to the Irenes' house.

The boy had this robot that he seemed to be right into. While Hazaar was big on his robot, she wasn't. Even though she knew that boys had more masculine interests than girls, and that his playing with his toy was normal, she was freaked out by it. The first time that she saw the thing, she came close to screaming in horror. It reminded her of the robots that were in them Terminator movies, which she was forced into seeing as a teenager and became right nervous about. It was about waist high and, if she had to make any guesses, had a speed of about sixteen to twenty miles an hour. It could walk, trot, gallop; along with using it in a normal sense, she had seen Hazaar use it to both stalk and pounce on the man who was frequently seen as collecting his family's mail.

Even though it was quite cold outside, Hazaar was out and about. His robot was also out and about. It was currently running up the driveway; the boy who owned and controlled it looked to be happy with what he was doing, so she paid him no mind. Her eyes were trained on the man, who was currently making his way towards the black-colored, high quality steel, aluminum locking mailbox that stood before the house. It was nearing three o'clock; the mail was delivered nearly three hours ago, so the man was a little late in collecting that day's mail.

"Is he out?" she jumped, then turned to see who it was that spoke. Upon turning, she saw that it was her youngest daughter, who just turned thirteen last Wednesday.

Sarah Victoria Klied, who, like her parents, had noticed and spoken on what was being seen in their neighbor's house, didn't wait for a response to her question. She went forward to see what her mutter was so interested in; after reaching the kitchen sink, she gently pushed her mutter to the side then went to look out the window that she found her so glued to.

"Rude, Sarah." Mitzi said after being pushed from where she was.

"Sorry, just wanted to see if he was going to the box or not." Sarah said.

"He's just a man, Sarah." Mitzi said, trying to sound adult but knowing full well that what she just said didn't go well with herself. While she was a polite woman, and while she did her best to act as adult as she could, there were times where she acted a bit childish.

"Who do you think he is, mum?" Sarah asked. "Miss. Irene's boyfriend? Do you think..."

He could be, Mitzi, who just turned forty-eight a month ago, thought. Miss. Irene could well of attracted the attention of a man who had a daughter that was around her sons' ages. While doing outside-of-Earth business, she might of met and then started a relationship with a man. The relationship might of been conducted by way of going to alien restaurants or other alien establishments before the man, and his daughter, made the decision to move in with her. Like with the right of having company come over, or letting someone stay over for a while, Miss. Irene had a right of dating whoever she chose to date and of having said person who she was dating move into and then establish himself in her household.

"What's going on?" Petra, who was four weeks shy of her eighteenth birthday, asked after entering the kitchen then finding her sister "plastered" to the kitchen window.

Mitzi watched her oldest daughter go to the window; Petra had given her and her husband a worry last year, after the Irene's moved in. She was acting like a sort of stalker with the family by either staying home to watch them from the windows of the house or to linger around the front or back yards, with her eyes glued to the adjacent house and its property. Though looking to of gotten over that "stalker" phase of hers, she and Kurt were still keeping an eye on her. They didn't want their daughter to disturb or make the Irene's feel uncomfortable.

Petra had brown hair, but gray-green eyes. Her figure was very trim for one of her age. She was wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans that had faded, knee patch accessories. The slippers, that were on her feet, were brown. Petra's hair was currently up in a bun—she was experimenting lately with the different hair styles that were out there.

"Think she'll get into any trouble for having him and that girl-alien living in her house, mumma?" Sarah, a girl who stood five foot, three inches, and who had platinum-blonde hair, brown eyes, and a very petite figure, asked.

"No." Mitzi replied. "He hasn't been causing any trouble so, why would she get in trouble for having him and that girl in her house."

"Datty just got h..." Sarah trailed off for a second before gasping. "Uh-oh! Datty's going to say hello to that man and—"

"Hazaar just turned that robot-thing on that man!" Petra exclaimed.

While the vehicle, that pulled into the driveway of the house that was to the left of the one that he and his family were currently living in, was noticed, he didn't give it any mind. The same went on his expressing any concern on who was driving it. His attention was focused on the collection of the mail, which he decided to not claim until after most of the street's activities were downed some. After reaching the mailbox that was before the house, he pulled the back down then reached in; it was just his luck that his son decided to sick his remote controlled "monster" on him when he did.

Once he saw the contraption bounding towards him, he grabbed the items that were in the box, then closed the door, then turned to "flee".

"For one who was sick ten days ago, he's quite spunky and sharp today." he thought while going back to the house that the mailbox belonged to.

He stopped after that thought occurred. His son's contraption, which was about forty inches tall, and had an all-metal, articulate body, charged at him at high speed then slid to a stop. He stopped when this occurred. After standing where he was, he dodged to the right then, when it followed him, to the left, then started going towards the house. He had no more started on his trek to the house when the gizmo "pounced" on him. He grunted, then pushed it back, then tried to resume his path to the house; a giggle was heard from his son two seconds later then his robot charged then cut his route to the house off.

The thought of what he'd do under different circumstances occurred after that happened. If the machine wasn't remote controlled, and if his son wasn't the commander of the remote, he'd of attacked it. He would of thought of the thing as a device meant to take him out; something meant to harm or kill him... something that looked benevolent but that really wasn't. Since this was one of the things that his son had gotten on his birthday, which happened eight days ago, he couldn't attack or destroy it. He was forced to be apart of the game that was being played.

"Alright y'little snot, get ready because this'll cause ma to leap through the roof." Bile, his oldest son, who also happened to be his adopted son, said on April 23.

When the machine was brought down from the attic, it had a blanket draped over it. Soon after placing it in front of Hazaar, Bile ripped the blanket up to unveil this... "Boston Dynamics" Wildcat robot thing. Hazaar just about went crazy over it. Along with thanking his brother, he started using it; he made it work while being in the living room, then he made it go into the dining room and kitchen, then he spooked his sister with it by making it go up the stairs then wait by the upstairs bathroom... which she was in at the time. After days of using it inside, Hazaar decided to bring it outside.

The thing was very well balanced, which was a surprise considering how bulky it was. Lazeer had kicked it a few times, and Lhaklar had punched and pushed it; not once had it fallen or collapsed. After being abused, it walked on... acting like nothing had ever happened to it. He, personally, still didn't know what to make of the thing, and he honestly thought that his wife felt the same way.

Along with having these thin, but relatively strong-set, legs, it had an on-board computer, engine/pump, and heat exchanger on it. It also had a series of hooks on its sides—maybe, at one time, before it was thrown in the trash, it was used as a sort of cargo machine? Bile claimed to of found the thing, and its remote control, in a dumpster somewhere; maybe the human who had it had used it to carry certain things from point A to point B and so on. While the thing was definitely male-approved—surely, only a male-child would have an interest in wanting one and in wanting to play or use one of these things—he was creeped out by it. As Lhaklar had said eight days ago, if only it had a head, a tail, and fur, it'd _really_ look like a wildcat then.

"Whoa there!" he said after the thing prevented him from going to the house.

"It's hungry, dad! Better run before it chomps a hole in ya." his son called.

"Very funny, Hazaar."

He tried walking around the thing then, when that wasn't permitted, he tried walking into it. While the thing moved off a foot, it regained its balance then came at him. He was chased from his route back to the house a ways; after the thing had him by the lone tree that sat in the yard's center, he started getting a bit tempered. He pushed it twice, kicked it once, then shouted at his son to stop it before trying to head back to the house. Either his son hadn't heard him or he decided to forgo his instruction in stopping the game; the thing chased him to nearly the mailbox before turning and then bounding back to where the driveway was. He shook his head, then looked at the mail—it was amazing that it wasn't dropped or destroyed during the process of his being chased off by his son's robot—, then started his way back to the house. Either his luck for the day was just next to nothing or his son was trying to keep him out of the house after seeing that someone was approaching him. A man got his attention and, since he couldn't be rude in brushing him off, he engaged him.

"Reminds me of when I was younger." the man, who had sandy-brown hair, brown eyes, and who stood five foot, nine and a half inches, said. "Use to target my fader and sisters with machines that look like that."

"Never seen items like that before in my life," he admitted, which was true. It was either the normal-given toys or nothing for him. No remote controllable items or items that looked... like that of what his son was playing with.

"Serious? They make things like that for kids all the time. I'm always seeing them being advertised on the tube." the man, who, he now realized, was wearing a nurses outfit, replied. "The more high-tech robots are typically kept for military use while the rest is made and then sold for the kids."

"I've seen the use of drones in the military but never items that resemble what my son's using." he said.

"First time on Earth?" the man asked, then quickly corrected himself, "Or, excuse me, on this side of the shields?"

"On Earth, no. I've done some visitations here from time to time, but I've never, really, resided on this side of the shields before."

"It'll take some time but I think you'll do well here." the man said. He then held his hand out. "Kurt Klied—me, the missus, and our two daughters live right beside you."

"Pleased to meet you," he said as he grasped and then shook the hand that was presented to him. "TazirVile Surfeit."

"Don't mean to poke or prod you—just curious; my neighbor, Miss. Irene, has been living here with her sons for nearly a year now—but, are you her beau?"

Her who? He had never heard such a word before and, obviously, the man had noticed. Up to that very moment, he had only been referred as his wife's husband, not her bo. And what was with the non-married tag that his wife continued to be called? The last he had heard, Angel's full name was Angel Irene Vile-Surfeit. Not "Miss. Irene". While he understood the humans' use of just calling her Angel Irene, he couldn't understand the reason behind the un-married tag being applied to her name when she was a married woman.

"Her what?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Beau—boyfriend." the man clarified.

"No,"

"Friend?"

"No."

"Who are you to her, then? If you're not her beau, or friend, but are residing in her home—"

"I'm her husband." he said. He put a lot of emphasis on the last word.

"Oooh, pardon me. Didn't know. How long you two been married?" the man, who's pupils had contracted after he expressed his association with his planet's heroine, asked.

"Quite a while now." he answered. The man gave him a quizzical look, which he couldn't help but chuckle at. "Over two thousand years."

"What!" the man took a quick step back.

He bet his proclamation over how long he was married to his wife put more than a dozen questions in the man's brain. He and the man exchanged a few more words before parting ways. The man looked quite confused, while he felt quite pleased with himself. Yes, he and the planet's heroine, Angel Irene, had been married for two thousand, two hundred, and two years; she was his Universal Wife, bound to him by the Gods' wills and given ample amounts of love and respect by him and, from what he fully believed, only him. His wife had bore him three children, all sons, in a span of five hundred years before "disappearing" after being threatened by his nephew—who happened to not only be her father but also her Family Mate or "second" husband—soon after giving birth to their youngest son. He had spent one thousand, six hundred years searching for her and the boys, had worried about finding only two or three of his missing family alive and well, then was surprised to find that all of them were alive and well. Yes, indeedy, was he a proud man. He had the most beautiful woman in the Universe as his wife and he had five beautiful children; he couldn't be any happier at the moment.

He was just reaching the five-step, red brick porch, that was before the residence's front door, when the sound of a car horn was heard. Hazaar was fast in reeling his gadget in after hearing it; while he turned around, his son removed from the clip from the remote's back then went to pick his robot up. The vehicle that his wife drove to and then from "work" in—and that she also used to go from store to store—was driven down the street before being turned and then driven up the driveway. The vehicle was only the second one that she owned; it was a dark blue color, and it had four doors on it. The headlights looked like big, oval eyes; the grille was a light silver color; and the fenders were nearly the same shade of blue as the rest of the car. While he had only seen the vehicle's interior once, he remembered it well. The seats were a dull black color; the dashboard, the polyester on the ceiling and walls, and the carpet were dark blue; and the cover, that was on the wheel, had an electric, blue swirl on a black and gray background on it. After his wife pulled into the driveway, he looked at the mail then shrugged his shoulders. He said the spell that made the mail shrink to being able to be safely placed in his pocket, then pocketed it, then left the porch. His wife was just coming up the walk when he took his last step from the porch.

"Shopping, or trying to impress someone?" he asked after seeing that she had three paper bags in her arms.

"Both," she winked her eye then casually slid one of the bags into his arms. "There's more in the car."

"And on the ground beside the car." Hazaar, who had his robot in his arms, said as he walked by him. "I'll pass the word that help's needed in getting the monthly groceries in, momma."

Kurt Klied, the man who just got through talking to one called TazirVile Surfeit, was receiving a series of odd looks from his family at the same time that his neighbor's son was calling most of his brothers into action. His family started looking at him like he had spontaneously grown a second head after he came in then said _he says he's been married to her for over two thousand years_ ; they stopped doing what they were too.

His actions after leaving his Audi Sport-10 weren't normal. After spending all day in Rastatt's Kreiskrankenhaus, he had expected to come home then rest up before the next shift happened. His wife had twenty minutes before her shift started; while they worked in the same building, their hours were different, so one or the other was able to be home or available to either Petra or Sarah for when they had issues or to just plain keep an eye on them. Instead of leaving his car, then going in to say hello to his family, then taking the rest that he needed, he went to talk to the alien man that he and his wife were noticing and talking about for the last couple days.

While things in Grün Bach had grown a little more interesting after the Irene's moved in, the neighborhood was still nice. He saw no reason to pack his family up then leave nor did he see reason in thinking that the good air was contaminated due to the presence of two who weren't of human origin. He was content where he was and the same went with his family; Grün Bach was a neighborhood where one didn't have to worry about others coming in to play the thieving game and where the larger of the area's animal life came in to make messes of the yards or residences. It was just a good subdivision to live and raise a family in.

"Over two thousand years?" his wife, who had platinum-blonde hair, and gray-green eyes set in a diamond-shaped face, repeated. "You sure he said that and not two weeks or months?"

"He said years, Mitzi." Kurt answered, with a nod. "Two thousand years."

"How's that, mum? Miss. Irene wasn't married two weeks ago." Petra asked, then pointed out.

"The man wasn't seen until a couple of days ago, Kurt." Mitzi said.

He'd be a liar if he said that he hadn't meant to talk to the guy. He was meaning to say hello and then introduce himself for the last few days; with the man being new here, he had stayed away to give him some privacy. New place, new neighborhood and planet, and new faces; the man, he still believed, was overwhelmed by the change and was slowly trying to adjust to his new way of life. Along with speaking with a very gravelly-sounding voice, the man sounded right intelligent... and quite reluctant to talk to him. Though trying to be pleasant, and though trying to keep their conversation short, he had asked a few questions that he and his wife were voicing over the last few days. He had yet to come to grips with the answers that he was given.

The man had said that he was on Earth before, but that he was never on the inside of the shields, and he also acted like he had never heard the word beau before. He had never met a person who didn't know what beau meant; even kids who were nearing their teenage years knew what that word meant! The fact that the man had called his neighbor his wife was mind-boggling. He had never really gotten to know the Irene family on a personal basis but he was sure that the older of the three Gray Alien-looking boys was over two thousand years old. The idea that the man that he just talked to was the older of them Gray Alien-looking boys' fader had haunted him all the way back to his house. It was still haunting him now.

"You're tired, Kurt. Your ears just played tricks on you, that's all." Mitzi said, then started to leave the room. "Gotta get ready for work. Love you three, call if you need me."

While going up the stairs, then into the master bedroom, she compared her house to the Irenes'. Both had five bedrooms, two full bathrooms, and an attic and basement in them; the carpet and wall colors were different, and the furniture was different, but that was perfectly natural, seeing as the two properties were occupied by different people. Another difference lie in the people and animals that lived in the residences. She and her husband lived with their two daughters, while Miss. Irene lived with her five sons—and, since the two were known as being in the house for the last couple of days, a man and a teenage girl. She and her family had a dog while the Irene's didn't; Miss. Irene's adopted son had a cat, and her younger sons had some animals that weren't allowed to have free roam. The two properties had cost the same—€250,000. Unlike the Irene family, who received help, and who didn't have to worry about a mortgage payment, she and her husband had a mortgage payment of €1,200.

The family dog, a sweet, four year old Schnoodle—or Poodle/Schnauzer mix—named Natascha, was resting on her and her husband's bed when she entered the room. She gave the resting dog, who had all-white fur, a pat on the head then went to the stained, hard oak dresser. She donned her nurses outfit, then grabbed her purse and car keys from the dresser's top, then left the room. She was quick in leaving the house after descending the stairs. Once she was out of her house, she went to her car; after unlocking and then opening the door to her red Mitsubishi Tr-12, which was parked beside her husband's car, she got in then did nothing but stare at the activity that was happening on the porch that led up to the Irenes' front door.

"Miss. Irene must of done the monthly grocery shopping." Mitzi thought while watching what she was.

Most of the boys, and the teenage girl, were going back and forth from the parked Porsche and the house. She started thinking that the boys were a mature bunch soon after the family moved in. It seemed that they helped their mutter with just about any task that she needed help in doing. Come time Miss. Irene did the monthly grocery shopping, the boys would assist in getting it all in—she presumed that they also helped in putting everything away. She was glad to see that the unknown, teenage girl was working alongside the boys in getting the groceries in. The activity, that was happening on the porch, confused her for all of a second; with it being a fourteen minute drive to the hospital where she worked at, she didn't have time to sit and wonder what the man and the younger of Miss. Irene's sons were doing. She started the car, backed it down the driveway, then went on her way.

"Probably nothing anyways. He's probably just trying to further establish himself—fooling around, or play-fighting with one of the boys who just came out to get the groceries, or just grabbed that boy after he tripped up after leaving the house too fast, or, possibly, just grabbed him to tell him that all of the groceries were gathered." she thought while driving down the street that her house was on.


	2. Chapter 2

Mitzi Klied, a woman who he had yet to meet or speak with, was in the general ballpark in her supposition over what was happening on the front porch of the residence that he and his family were living in. While he was trying to establish himself with his family, he wasn't play-fighting or fooling around with Lazeer. He wasn't grabbing his son, who tripped then started to fall after leaving the house too fast, either. Her thought of his grabbing Lazeer to tell him that all of the groceries were collected was in the general area of what happened on the porch, but even that was incorrect.

Lazeer, his youngest-born son, who was also born prematurely at five and a half months gestation, had just gotten over a nasty bout with the flu. Due to his system still being in that stressed-out zone, he thought that he didn't need to be outside. Instead of going out, putting his system at risk of getting sick again, he should stay inside; where he could continue to rest and recuperate from his illness. Lazeer, of course, had thought otherwise. A minor fight occurred between the two of them on the matter of the groceries needing to be brought in before he put his foot down; he told his son to go inside and to stay inside, which he reluctantly did.

Lazeer wasn't the only one that he had a to-do with over the taking in of the groceries. While he was sure that Hazaar was well over the cold that he experienced between April 18 and 21, his son was still limping quite heavily on his left side. Despite the limp, his son wanted to go out and help with the groceries. A fight between he and his secondborn was done after he came in with the three bags that he collected from his wife's vehicle. After placing the bags down, he grabbed his son by his shirt sleeve; as he saw it, Hazaar shouldn't be lifting anything heavy or moving about so freely. He should take it easy until his injured hip was better healed. Hazaar, of course, hadn't seen it that way. His son had seen his attempt to keep him from re-injuring himself as a form of bullying. Even though Angel was called in on that fight, she stood by his side about their son staying inside and not doing anything overly strenuous. Hazaar was told to go to the kitchen and then start the process of emptying the bags of their food; unlike he, who got a lot of lip, Hazaar gave his mother no problems in doing what she told him to.

Shortly after telling Hazaar to empty the bags of their food, Angel told Lazeer to do the same thing. While his two, younger sons were working on de-bagging the groceries, he, Angel, Eshal, Bile, and Lhaklar brought everything that was in the Porsche inside. After the food was in, he and Eshal stood back. Angel and the boys were the ones who put the food away—even though he and his daughter were new to the house, and didn't know where anything went, they didn't shove off or go to some other part of the house. They stood idly by, watching their family put everything away, and collecting data on where everything needed to go. After the food was put away, and the bags were stored for other uses, his sons dispersed in different directions. Eshal went upstairs, to, presumably, her room, while he stayed in the kitchen with his wife. Over the last two weeks, he had taken note of when she went to work and then returned to the house.

Angel left the house at close to nine in the morning then came home at around three in the afternoon. While it was close to being that hour, it wasn't time for his wife to clock out from her job. On average, she returned to the house ten to fifteen minutes after clocking out. He was curious over why she was so early in coming home... and when she found the time to grocery shop when she was supposedly working. He approached his wife coolly then placed his hand on her arm; Angel, who was busily looking through her purse, stopped doing what she was to look at him.

"Yes?" she said, with a smile.

"Bit early for your homecoming," he said. "Not even three yet, here you are."

"Mr. Blue-Butt seems to know my hours well," his wife said. "I clocked out thirty minutes ago. Decided to do the shopping now instead of later."

"That a normal thing you do or..."

"Tazzy, come on now." Angel sighed. She tossed her purse at him then went to the fridge. One of the packs of hamburger were removed; after placing it on the counter, she went to one of the cabinets then removed a can of tomato sauce, then a box of spaghetti noodles. "You make it sound like my clocking-out early is a crime."

"Didn't mean to make it sound like that. Was just curious, is all." he said. The thought of searching through her purse crossed his mind for a second before he cast it to the side. He placed the bag, one of them silver mesh-types, that seemed to not be as heavy as a usual woman's purse was, on the counter then went to her. "I apologize if I offended or made you upset, Angel. I'm new here and learning, slowly."

"Came a fraction of an inch of doing both but, luckily, since I know that you're both of them things, you're safe." Angel replied.

"How was work for you today?" he asked.

"Bit slow, but okay. In the next two to three days, after the paychecks and monthly government assistance payments are cashed, it'll be faster." Angel answered.

"You've got co-workers, right?" he asked. "Or are you the only one that works the area where you're stationed at?"

"Have fourteen others working the building at the same time that I do." Angel replied.

He sustained the sigh that wanted to come out. His wife had no idea how much weight was lifted from his shoulders; it was good to hear that she wasn't being taken advantage of and that she had people working incognito with her during the periods where she was in her workplace.

While he had learned a few things over the last two weeks, he hadn't seen his wife's place of work. He hadn't asked any questions on where she worked at or on the people that she worked around either. All he knew was that she woke up at around a quarter to eight, had breakfast ready after doing her morning routine, then left for work after eating. While he was annoyed with her having to be away for eight-hour periods for six days out of the week, he was okay with it—instead of going off to do some unknown task, she was both in a public establishment and making money to keep her family's heads above water.

"With me, and Eshal, being so new to the house, and with our still settling in and getting reacquainted with the members of our family, we haven't had time to think much less do any heavy-duty questioning anyways." he thought before the history that he had with the house ran itself through his processor.

After tracking Hazaar to the location, then hearing that his wife wasn't going to allow anyone in her family to pack up and then leave, he decided to stick around for a while. The agreement, drawn up between he and his wife, called for him and his family to reside in the house, and on the planet, for the next six months. On the night of April 17, instead of booking a hotel or going home for the night then coming back during the morning hours, he and his daughter slept in the living room. On either the loveseat or couch. On the following night... well, he couldn't so much as say that he moved his sleeping quarters upstairs. On the morning of the eighteenth, he asked for the house's blueprints; after receiving, and then looking them over, he went outside. A spell was done to make two extra rooms in the house, then another spell was done to widen the house—so it wouldn't look disproportioned or become unstable. Eshal was moved into one of the new rooms right after he came back from a quick trip home; all of the things that were in the chamber of his ship, that his daughter slept and lived in for the six months that they were initially staying here, were collected and then moved to the room that she picked to be hers.

The other room was bare for all of two days before he made the decision to go to a retail store that was on one of the planets of the nearby galaxy. It had just the basics in it—a bed, a bedside table, and a dresser.

Even after making them two rooms, then equipping them with furniture, then stabilizing the house, he hadn't slept or even moved his sleeping arrangements upstairs. While Eshal slept upstairs for the last fourteen days, he was still sleeping on the living room couch. He wasn't asked or requested to sleep in the living room; he was the one to make the decision to stay in the room during the periods where his family were retired for the night. That way, the boys would have some time to get use to him and not be but so nervous of him. With the exception of one of the boys, all of his sons had grown accustomed to him being both in the house and around them.

He had a plan in motion for that night that revolved around his sleeping arrangements. If things went well at supper, he'd be moving upstairs. To the room that Angel slept in.

"And I'm sure looking forward to that! Sleep upstairs, in the same bed that she does... have her soothing presence by my side... No more wet dreams being experienced, or me having to do the spell to dry the couch after waking up." he thought after his plan ran through his head.

His wife had insisted on the boys continuing with their lives as if nothing had changed in the house after it was fixed to accommodate him and Eshal. He had a feeling that things had ceased happening because of him and his daughter. With the exception of his wife, daily routines had changed. His sons, for the first week of his and his daughter's residency in the house, had either stayed upstairs, in their rooms, or had gone down to the basement. It took all of a week before a return to his sons' daily routines was noted; Lazeer, who was still battling his flu, but who was well enough to walk around without staggering or stumbling, had played a video game in the living room with Hazaar on the twenty-fourth. He and Eshal had watched the two play the game but they hadn't lingered or spoken during the activity. Two days later, Lhaklar broke the bubble by asking his sister if she wanted to play one of the available games that were compatible with the same system. Eshal had said yes; they had played a game called Super Mario Bros. for all of thirty minutes before going their separate ways. Most of the boys were slowly opening up and settling back to how they were before he and Eshal moved in; along with being happy in seeing this happening, he was happy to see that it was happening slowly instead of quickly.

He wasn't stupid by any means; he knew that, even though he and Eshal were related to the boys, they were, essentially, strangers to them.

"What'd you do today?" his wife asked him.

"The usual," he replied before checking or preventing himself from speaking.

"Just sit on the couch, and watch tv, or—" his wife started to ask; when he nodded his head, she went quiet. She said nothing for all of two minutes before sighing, then going towards her purse. "You're living here, Tazir. You have a right of doing things while being here. You know that, right?"

"Yes, I'm aware of that." he replied. "Technically, I didn't just sit and watch tv, or sit in the dining room, while you was away. Hazaar brought this small, handheld thing to me at around ten-thirty. Since I didn't know how to work the thing, I just sat and watched him use it."

"Looks like a handheld controller, with a flip-up screen? Black in color?" Angel asked.

"Yes,"

"The Nvidia Shield. Bile found that at the dump last year, in September." Angel said. He made an automatic face after hearing that one of his sons had brought something from a dump home, and that another of his sons was playing with it; Angel saw his expression then laughed. "It's a little hobby of theirs. They scavenge things from the dump that they either think someone in the house will like, or that they like, or that they think they can sell."

"And you _let_ them?" he asked, incredulously.

"Course, they're not doing anything wrong." Angel replied. "Before you ask, I do have one rule with this hobby of theirs. Anything that they bring back has to be cleaned and thoroughly; I don't want anything sticky or smelly sitting around the house."

"You know how much bacteria lies around in dumps, Angel? They could get sick from handling anything that's in them places!"

"Yes. I'm aware that dumps aren't the cleanest places in the world. They clean themselves up after they come home; no infections, or illnesses, have happened after they've done their trips to the area's dumps."

"Angel—"

"The purse that I gave you a few minutes ago was one of the finds that Bile also came by in one of the area's dumps."

He clamped his mouth shut after learning that the purse, that he held, and contemplated looking through before deciding to not do so, was found in a dump. His wife smiled at him, then took her purse, then left the room. He stood by the counter for a few seconds before following her; while she went upstairs to change out of the pair of black pants and the black, long sleeve blouse that she wore each day when she went to work, he went to the living room.

He still thought that the room, that he was entering, was appropriately sized for a residence of the size that he and his family were in. A window looked in on the dining room; a red velvet loveseat, that had two textured, red throw pillows on it, was under it. To the right of the loveseat was a round pedestal table; it had nothing on its surface. A bamboo and rattan floor lamp was to the left of the loveseat. In the center of the room sat a gas-powered fireplace, which had framed photographs on its front. A 39" big screen tv was mounted over the fireplace. Flower portraits and more framed photographs decorated the room's walls. To his left stood another round, pedestal table; this one had a 25-inch tall, espresso-brown traditional lamp on its surface.

The red, microfiber sectional couch, that was beside the table that had the lamp on it, had two red, microsuede, square-shaped pillows on it. The coffee table, that stood before the couch, was one of them rustic types. At the moment, only a tv remote was on its surface.

The ceiling was one of them vaulted types. It was white-painted, and had a popcorn design to it.

Since he had nothing to do, and since everyone was on the second level, he sat on the couch then looked at the tv. The reason to why Angel refused to leave the planet was remembered right after he did so.

"While she disclosed her desire in not wanting to leave before my grandfather stormed out of the place, she explained it some hours after both he and my father and his wife were on their way home." he thought.

Angel, who had five sons to worry about, was basing her decision on the child that she adopted in January of last year. She claimed concern over this child succumbing to space-travel sickness and stress, and she also claimed a concern over he and Eshal not getting along with him. While he could of called balls on that—while the boy might of gotten sick, and might of gotten stressed over the move, he would of gotten over it and there was no question on whether or not he or Eshal would get along with him—he had made the decision to go with his wife's game. He decided to let the child in question grow more accustomed to him and Eshal before the move to Moas, the planet where his residence was on, and where he and Eshal lived on, and where most of his children were born on, was made.

After this reminiscing was complete, he watched the program that was being aired on the tv. This odd program, that he'd usually not bother with, was watched for all of a few minutes before he realized that he still had the mail on his person. He reached into his tuxedo jacket, then took the mail that was in its inside pocket out, then placed it on the coffee table. He had no more done that before his and his wife's first child walked into the room.

"Lhaklar," he said.

"Dad," his firstborn son returned.

"Is it me or are them arms of yours getting bigger?" he asked.

Over the last few weeks, he had found himself as being amazed at how well composed his firstborn son was. The oldest of his biological sons, who was given the name of LhaklarVile Closu Surfeit, but who went by plain Lhaklar by, he presumed, everyone that he came in contact with, had very good control of himself. He seemed to be the more mature and responsible of his brothers. Over the weeks that he was in the house, he had also learned that his son had them moments where he overdid them good qualities. Lhaklar sometimes took it upon himself to act like the Big Man of the house—they had "crossed paths" on that issue a few times over the last few weeks; either his son backed down at the last minute or Angel came in to tell him to quit it on the times where he didn't.

His firstborn son, who had recently advanced a year to become a two thousand, one hundred, and two year old, looked almost like himself. Along with being six foot, one in height, he had mint-green skin. His head was shaped like an upside-down teardrop; the eyes, that were in it, were large, oval in shape, and pistachio in color. Even though they were that color, there was no mistaking the shiny, silverish undertone that they had to them. A pair of holes where a nose would normally be were under his eyes; an O-shaped mouth was under them. Like all of his biological children, he had suction cups on the ends of each of his fingers; his skin complexion, and pistachio-colored eyes, had come from his mother instead of from him. His son had a very nice, athletically built body; the muscle, that he had on him, was quite firm. While he was very healthy, he still worried about him. His son had sustained an injury to the right side of his head last year, on the secondth of October. The scabbed over gash, that was on the side of his head, didn't look good; he was keeping an eye on it, just in case it got infected. The head-wound wasn't the only injury on him; his left arm was both broken and in a splint. His son's arm was broken last year, in December. Sadly, he was the cause of both of them injuries.

His son was wearing a dark green muscle shirt and a pair of dark brown canvas pants. The shoes, that were on his feet, were a normal brown color. Like he said, his son's arms, which were very finely muscled, looked to of gotten bigger in the two weeks that he and Eshal were living in the house. His wife claimed that all of the boys worked out in a room that they added to the house nearly a year ago; his son's arms looked to be good convincers of that claim.

"Must be you. They don't look any bigger than what they were last month." Lhaklar said after glancing at his arms.

"Just come up from the room that your mother says you and your brothers made last year?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just did a little pumping, and magazine reading." his son replied.

"How much iron you boys got in that room?" he asked.

"Enough—few dumbbells, and a weight or two." his son replied.

"No machines down there?"

"Nope, just the weights."

"This room's in the basement, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, wanna see?"

His standing up must of been answer enough for his son, because he suddenly turned then left the room that he only just walked into. His son led him around the corner, then into the dining room, then into the kitchen; the door, that was to the left of the one that belonged to the kitchen closet, was opened after they reached it. He and his son went down the five concrete steps that led down to the basement quickly. After exiting the stairs, he noticed that the washer and dryer, that were to the right of the room, had the word Wildaire on them. He was quick to note that the room was small; it didn't run the length of the house. It was maybe twelve feet wide by twelve feet long. Other than the water heater, furnace, air conditioner, and electrical wires, the washer and dryer were the only things in it. There was a floor to ceiling hole beside the washing machine; his son led him to it quietly.

"You and your brothers made this?" he asked after stepping up then stopping before the hole that was beside the washing machine.

"Yeah," his son replied.

The hole, while round, was perfectly smooth on the edges. He was quite impressed; for his sons to do something like this, they'd of either had to use their powers or know how to use tools that'd make jagged edges become smooth. The hole, when he stepped into it, was attached to a tunnel that had a coating of cement on both its floor, walls, and ceiling. A series of torches were on the walls; they looked almost like the ones that he found and then took from the cellar of the residence that his family was living in nearly two years ago. The torches looked to of been made out of a metal of some sort; it looked like someone had heated and then bent them around to make a cone. A wire was wrapped around them a bunch of times. The metal and the wire were burnt; the torches had an antique appearance thanks to that burning process. Each of the torches had a pulsating, spherical crystal on their tops.

"Your mother said something about you and your brothers taking trips to the dump then bringing things that you find there home," he said after looking at the first torch that was on the wall of the tunnel. "One of you find these at one of the dumps that you visited?"

"No, those're made by hand." Lhaklar replied. He chuckled when he saw his facial expression then said, "Bile and Guyunis made those; the crystal pulsates in different colors after one claps their hands."

"The Pulseren spell?" he speculated aloud.

"Uh-huh," Lhaklar smiled then started down the tunnel.

He was floored when he saw the room that was at the end of the tunnel. His sons had done yet another impressive job in craftsmanship! The room was a little bigger than the basement; like the tunnel, a coating of cement was applied to its floor, walls, and ceiling. An old, brown leather couch was in its upper, left corner. A matching chair was against the wall beside it. A plank-wood coffee table was in front of them. The room had four bookcases in it; all of them had three shelves on them. The first bookcase had nothing but magazines and books on it while the second, third, and fourth had weights or dumbbells on them. There were two torches per wall in the room. A brown fur rug was in the center of the floor. He did the only thing that he saw fitting to do after entering the room—his eyes blinked, then closed, stayed shut for a second or two, then opened.

He went from being awe-struck to parental after re-opening his eyes then seeing the four posters that were on two of the room's walls.

"Has your mother ever been in this room?" he asked.

"No," Lhaklar answered.

"Bet she'd be quite shocked if she knew of them," he pointed at the posters.

"No, actually, she'd be fine with them." Lhaklar replied.

Sure she would, he thought. Sure and he'd grow wings then fly south for the winter. The first poster that his eyes landed on had a very beautiful woman on it. She was both on her back and arched over a bench. Other than the red satin cloth, that was obscuring her crotch, she wore not a shred of clothing. Her breasts were very exposed. Her hands were laced in her black hair, which was draped over the end of the bench. The next poster, which was beside the first one, had a blonde-haired woman on it; like with the woman in the first poster, this one's breasts were exposed. A black, lace-like garment was obscuring her crotch; there was a set of beads hanging from around her neck. Like with the woman that was on the first poster, the one that was on this one had green eyes. She was lying, all sprawled out, on a bed that had a leopard-print quilt on it. Both of these posters were on the wall that was behind the couch.

He could look past the poster that was on the room's left wall. While the brown-haired woman was naked, her parts were obscured. Her arms were crossed over a pair of voluptuous breasts. She was seated on a bed; he presumed that the man, that was both behind her and looked to be rubbing her shoulders, was also naked. There was no way in hell that he could look past the final poster. The woman, who had chestnut-brown hair and bright blue eyes, was very naked; she was draped over a bar counter. Just about everything could be seen on her. He was quick to turn his attention from that poster.

"Uh-oh," Lhaklar said.

"Uh-oh is about right." he said after regaining his composure. He shook his head then turned to leave the room; he went only two steps before stopping. "Think your mother and I will be having a chat on this room soon, son. I suggest that either you or one of your brothers take them posters down then dispose of them."

"She'd be fine with them." Lhaklar said. "She let's—"

"Son, don't pull that over me now. While its normal for one of your and your brothers' ages to have an interest in posters of that caliber, it's not normal, or right, for any of you to have or display them." he said.

"Dad—"

"No more, Lhaklar. Just do as I suggested for you to do." he said, then left the room.

Lhaklar did nothing but watch his father leave the room then go down the tunnel. Except for thinking that the man saw something that he didn't like, and that he forgot that he and his brothers weren't children anymore, he couldn't come to terms with what just happened. He and his brothers knew how their mother was; she let them express themselves, and she also let them hang things in certain rooms that they and, usually, only they entered or spent time in. She was, in a sense, a cool mom. Someone who let them express their sexualities, and who let them do certain things that a normal, hard-core mother wouldn't let them do. From what he just witnessed, he believed that his father was the exact opposite of what his mother was... and didn't he have other proofs of that?

Just a few days ago, when Hazaar and Lazeer were playing one of their favorite games on the Super Dendy game system, which was found by Bile on the twenty-fifth of September, when he visited the dump in Au am Rhein, their father walked in then used his Telekinesis to turn both the system and the tv off. Hazaar and Lazeer were upset over the game being turned off then they got even more upset after it was taken from them. It was all over a set of narration that was happening on the game at the time—a few curse words were used that their father had heard and, obviously, not liked. He took the game because of the usage of _shit_ , _fuck_ , and _motherfucker_ ; even though the game was returned to his brothers after their mother returned home, it wasn't played or even spoken about. Hazaar and Lazeer were nervous about playing it; they didn't want it to be taken from them again, or destroyed.

Bile became a "victim" of their father's strictness last night. While eating supper, he spoke on what he did with his friends. He used the word _damn_ and _hell_ twice, which was commented on by their father, who said for him to either change his vocabulary or end his conversation; Bile had said nothing for a few minutes before going on in telling everyone about how he and his friends went out to use their BB's—the table was slapped, then their father stood up then started getting on Bile for his using a gun and for hanging around a crowd that wasn't "appropriate" for his age. Their mother was quick to silence the man; a mild fight occurred between the two of them then no further conversation happened at the table. As far as he knew, Bile went out to spend some time with his friends earlier that day. Bile had said nothing of his activities after coming home at noon; he just came in then went up to his room.

And now he had this to add to them few mentioned things. While he didn't know the reason behind his leading his father down to the room that his mother called the Son Cave, he was fine in doing so. He saw no reason behind his not showing the man the room, or in trying to establish a relationship with him. Here he was, trying to show his father a room where he and his brothers spent time either working out, or reading magazines, or acting their gender in, and there was his father... who practically spat in his face then threw the book at him. He sighed then went to the two walls that the posters were on; while he was sure that his mother would be on his side about them, he did figure that he should comply in some degree to his father's suggestion. It was no problem in putting them back on the wall if their mother said that they were fine and that she was fine with their having them on their "Cave's" walls.

He took the posters down, then hid them behind the couch, then left the room. He returned to the kitchen a few minutes later. Upon entering the room, he found that his parents were in it and were talking.

"Honey, think reasonably now. The boys are a bit young for things like what's in that room." his father was saying to his mother. His father glanced at him before resuming his conversation with his mother. He responded to the glance by going to the fridge for a drink.

"I am thinking reasonably, Tazzy. The boys are teenagers now, not young boys. They've got a right in expressing themselves, and in hanging things that show off their sexualities." his mother replied.

"I take it that, when a baby's dropped on our doorstep, you'll say the same thing? Posters like what's in that room make thoughts occur. They make problems, Angel." his father said.

"Think I've already had this talk with them. They know better than to go out and have sex at their age."

"Do they, Angel? Things like them posters will, one day, make them want to do the experimenting thing."

"The boys have been allowed to have posters like what you've described since they reached the age of one thousand, five hundred years. Nothing bad has happened because of them, or because of their being allowed to express themselves."

"Suppose that you're also fine with the boys smoking as well?" his father, who now sounded a bit tempered, asked. "Bile came in a few hours ago reeking of that marijuana crap that's smoked on this planet. It was so bad that even Eshal noticed it!"

"As long as they don't smoke but so much, yes. I'm fine with it."

"Angel!"

He was trying to bite the chuckle back but, after his father said his mother's name in an elevated sort of way, it just bubbled to the surface. There was only one can of grape soda in the fridge that was cold and it just so happened to be in the way back. He took it out, opened it, then closed the door. His father had since turned to look at him; one look was enough to tell him that he was about to be snapped at. He wasn't but so surprised when he was a few seconds later.

"Your mother and I don't require an audience, Lhaklar." his father said.

"I'm not being an audience." he said back.

"It sure as hell looks like you're trying to be one, son."

"I'm not being an audience, I'm just—"

"Out!" his father barked.

"I'm just getting a drink, what's so criminal in doing that?"

"Tazir, really, stop it. He's doing nothing but getting himself something from the fridge." his mother said.

And, with that, he left the room. He went into the hallway that came off the foyer then stopped—but not to eavesdrop on his parents, who were still "dooking it" in the kitchen. Instead of eavesdropping on what they were talking about, he looked at the photographs that were both on the walls and the long, two-shelf, dark brown cabinet. All of the photographs were of him, his siblings, and their mother; all of the frames, that they were in, had new glass in them. After the October 2 earthquake, that happened after his father did his quick entrance to the planet that they were on, all of the glass items—the windows and anything else that was either made of or had glass in or on them—exploded. His mother repaired all of the house's windows and glass items with her powers a few days after the earthquake happened.

The first photograph that he looked at had him, his brothers, and their mother in it—it wasn't really a photograph. He used his Telepathy to take it from his mother's memory banks last year, in January. The photograph depicted him, his brothers, and their mother standing around a rather teary-eyed Guyunis; Bile had his hand on Guyunis's shoulder, while Hazaar and Lazeer were ganged up on him in a dual hug. He was on Guyunis's left; he was all smiles in the photograph. The memory that he made a photograph of was of when Guyunis was found and then brought to him and his siblings; he and his brothers had gained a new brother during the wee morning hours of Janaury 28.

The photograph that was beside that one was another that he took from his mother's memory banks. This one was taken some years ago—it was of Hazaar from when he was three hundred and eighty years old. Hazaar was walking down the stairs that were in their old Canadian apartment; he was wearing a pair of dark green and blue footie pajamas. His left arm was up; he was wiping the sleep out of his eyes with the hand that was attached to it. The next photograph was of Lazeer—like the previous one, it was taken from his mother's memory banks some years ago. Lazeer was just two hundred and eighty years old; his youngest brother was clinging to the banister of the same stairs that were in their old Canadian apartment. He was refusing to come down because he was afraid of tripping and then falling.

The following photograph had a seven hundred and forty-one year old Bile in it. Bile was holding Lazeer, who was no more than a hundred and forty-one years old. Another photograph of a seven hundred and forty-one year old Bile was beside that one. Bile was holding Lazeer and Hazaar; the latter was no more than two hundred and forty-one at the time of the photograph's taking. A photograph of him, as a six hundred and forty-one year old, was beside that one; Hazaar and Lazeer were on his lap. A photograph of his mother, who was sitting on a patch of flowers, was beside that one. Lazeer was on her lap while Hazaar was sitting beside her. He and Bile were standing behind her. All four of them photographs were taken at the same time and by the same man, who was a professional camera-person.

The next photograph was, originally, on the hallway cabinet. After the earthquake, it was moved to the wall. Bile and Guyunis were in it; they were standing in another of their old-resided, Canadian apartments. They were in the kitchen. Bile was standing in front of the sink; the window, that was over of the sink, showed that it was about to storm. Thick, black clouds hung all over; it was very dark outside but the photograph wasn't dark at all. It gave a rather happy feeling... a feeling of contentment and happiness. Bile was just one thousand, eight hundred, and twenty years old; he was just starting to move from wearing non-torn or ripped shirts to shirts that had a rip here, a tear there, and so forth—his arms were really starting to fill out with firm muscle! Guyunis was standing next to Bile. He stood just five foot, eight and a half inches; just a few inches shorter than Bile, who, at the time, was six foot, one and a half inches tall. Guyunis was a tall and thin kid back then. He didn't have any muscle on him at all when he was that age. The index and middle fingers of Bile's left hand were held up, behind Guyunis's head; at the time of the photograph's taking, Bile was giving their adopted brother a set of rabbit's ears.

The first photograph, that was on the hallway cabinet, had him, his siblings, and their mother in it. They were on an island in the Caribbean. Their mother had brought them to her last day of working on Water Works, a movie that she did the special effects on by use of her Elemental Powers. Due to it being rather chilly on that day, they were all wearing jackets. Bile—who was one thousand and eighty-two years old at the time of the movie's completion—and he—who was nine hundred and eighty-two years old at the time of the movie's completion—were on the island's shore. They were using their Elemental powers to splash water on one another in a game of chase. Hazaar and Lazeer were wrestling on the beach; Lazeer's blue and black jacket was nearly off of him, and Hazaar had sand in his rattail. Guyunis was permanently frozen in mid-jump above them; he was about to join them in their beach-wrestling. Guyunis was no more than seven hundred and eighty-two years old while Hazaar was no more than five hundred and eighty-two years old. Lazeer was no more than four hundred and eighty-two years old.

A photograph of Guyunis, from when he was no more than a few days old, was beside that one. The frame that was beside it had a series of holes in it, which housed five photographs of him and his siblings from when they were babies of various ages. The frame that had the five photographs in it was once on the wall; after the October 2 earthquake, it was moved to the cabinet. A photograph of their mother holding a three hundred and seventy-three year old Guyunis was next to that one. Other than the two potted plants that were beside the final frame, there was nothing else on the cabinet.

"Mom was talking about adding a few more photographs to the cabinet a few nights ago." he thought as he upended, then chugged a swallow of his soda. "She said something about adding some photographs of dad and Eshal to this hallway; with what's going on in the kitchen, it might be a while longer before a photograph or two of the old man's put up."

He turned then left the hallway. He went down the hallway that branched off the one that came off the foyer then went up the stairs. Before going into his bedroom, he happened on Bile. He told his brother to watch himself as their parents were "talking" in the kitchen; when Bile said that he was going to their Cave, he told him where the posters were. Bile said that he'd put them back on the room's walls then went down the hall. He went into his bedroom just before his brother started his descent down the stairs.


	3. Chapter 3

When they sat at the table, nothing was said. The same went when the bowl of noodles was passed around, and when their mother came in with their brother, who she was practically leading by the shoulder. Even though he was quiet in a verbal sense, he wasn't in a mental one—meal-time had, for the last two weeks, been quite different. Other than the two extras, and Lazeer being too sick to eat while being in the dining room, one of their own had spent most of his meal hours in his room. This was by their brother's choice, not by punishment or request. They had understood his decision in doing this.

"We adopted the routine of sitting by age at the table after dad "claimed" us in 4099." Lhaklar thought after passing the bowl of noodles to his father.

Yes, but their mother was the only one to still be sitting in her, their thought and fully believed, appropriate chair, which was at the head of the table. On a normal day, it'd be Bile, he, and Guyunis who'd sit on her left; Hazaar would sit across from Guyunis while Lazeer would sit beside him. They no longer sat like this. Hazaar was required to move over a slot several days ago; Lazeer, on the day that he felt well enough to eat while being at the table, found that Hazaar's chair was where his use to be and that his own was now closer to their mother's. This change was caused by their father, who did a spell to make two, additional chairs, that looked very identical to the original six that were picked out for the room's dark brown, rustic oak table, for him and Eshal to sit in.

After making them two chairs, the man made the decision to take the one that sat on the opposite side of the table from their mother. Eshal made the decision to side on his right.

They had eaten their meals in this order for all of a week and a half: their mother at the table's head, Bile and he had continued sitting in their appropriate chairs, Guyunis's chair would be vacant, their father, Eshal, and then Hazaar. Guyunis and Lazeer were newly returned to the table—it was just four days ago when Lazeer made a return to eating while being at the table while it was three for Guyunis.

Naturally, when Guyunis made his return to the table, Bile and he were asked to move over a chair. Their brother, who would sit in the chair that he was in, was too nervous to partake in the consumption of his meals while being seated beside their father—who, technically, was his nephew. Guyunis, for the last three days, was taking his meals in while being seated beside their mother. Neither he nor Bile had griped over the sudden change in seating arrangements; they were all too willing to move over.

"There you are," their mother said after their adopted brother took his seat at the table. Once Guyunis was seated, she went to her chair.

Their mother sat down then waited for the bowl of noodles to get to her. She had gotten Eshal to help her in making that night's meal—and, by "help", he really meant that his older sister just stood by her shoulder. Eshal, who was two thousand, five hundred, and two years old, didn't know how to cook, so she was really no help in that little area. He didn't know if it was funny or sad; his sister was five hundred and one years older than he yet she didn't know how to cook. Here he was, two thousand, one hundred, and two years of age, and he knew how to cook a full-course meal while she didn't.

"Dad, following his talk with mom, stayed in the living room for most of the rest of the day." Lhaklar thought after placing some meat on his noodles.

After speaking with their mother on their smoking habits, and on the posters that had been, and were still, in the room that they made last year, he didn't feel like doing much of anything but sit and watch tv. Even when their mother, and Eshal, were making supper, the man remained in that room. The idea of the man pulling the "pout" routine had crossed his mind a few times over the hours; he had sure acted poutish after speaking to their mother on the issues that he did. Their mother had, obviously, put her foot down on them issues; he was still wondering if his father wasn't really a big kid—he wasn't acting very "adult" today.

Nothing but bills had come in the mail. Their mother had spent most of four hours either on the phone, paying what bills she could, or counting out money that would be sent via the mail to the companies that she couldn't send payment to by phone. Their father had watched her from the corner of his eye the entire time but he hadn't said a word to her and she, likewise, hadn't said a word to him. He knew right off the bat, though, that his father was waiting for some sort of word to be spoken to him—after coming down to give his mother the envelope that he put the money that he earned via dancing the stages of the Die Heiß und Hastig, a strip club that was in the nearby city of Karlsruhe, he had noticed the "pleading" look that was on his father's face. His father had, obviously, been waiting for a chance of redemption with their mother. She had kept him waiting; up to calling everyone to the table for supper, she hadn't said a word to him.

With nothing of real deal interest being in the mail, and with the phone being quiet all day, and with there being nothing to do, they either sat in their rooms, listening to music, or looking at the magazines that they got last month, or went down to the room that came off the basement. Even Lazeer "stole" away to that room; their father had either not seen him or, if he did, he said nothing on his involvement in lifting weights or "looking at posters that were inappropriate for one of his age".

"What'd we all do today?" their mother, who, they knew, had only spoken to break the silence that was in the room, asked.

"The usual," Lhaklar replied. "Spent some time in The Cave, then went to spend some time with Astor before coming home."

"Made a list of things that I'll be needing to get in the next few days, then went out with the Wildcat." Hazaar said.

"Same on the list thing." Lazeer said. "Also listened to some music, and watched a movie."

"When's tha-k-t movie you and Lhaklar saw in February coming out?" Guyunis asked Lazeer.

"Good question—probably in another two to four months." Lazeer replied.

"Wrote in my diary, then tried to drone out the noise that Lazeer was listening to." Eshal said.

"Hey! Bob Marley's not noise!" Lazeer exclaimed.

"Went to Angus's place," Bile said. "We decided to meet-up with Aubin and his sister in downtown Au am Rhein fifteen minutes after my arrival."

"What'd you four do after you got there?" their mother asked.

"Not sure what Abelle did—she fled right after we got there. Angus, Aubin, and I did plenty of girlfriend shopping."

"You what?"

And, like that, their father became involved in the conversation. Bile's mention of girlfriend shopping wasn't anything serious; oh, he and his friends might of checked out the girls but they hadn't done anything. From what he was told a few hours ago, Bile, Angus, and Aubin did nothing but stand beside a brick building. They smoked a few cigarettes, then spoke and vented out their present issues, then made plans to meet up at the town's local theater. The three had an interest in seeing a movie that was to start being shown tomorrow.

Their father had, obviously, not seen the joke-like nature of Bile's comment on girlfriend shopping.

"What?" Bile asked their father.

"Did I just hear that you were shopping for a girlfriend with a few friends of yours?" their father asked.

"Yes, but—" Bile started to say.

"And you said that posters like what's in that room that's in the basement won't cause trouble." their father said in an accusing tone to their mother.

"Tazir," their mother said. "Bile didn't say what he said in a serious tone. He was joking."

"Huh?"

"Uh, well, I'll admit that we glanced at a few girls that were walking in our general area but, yeah, we weren't really shopping for a girlfriend or anything." Bile said.

"And there's nothing wrong in doing that." their mother said.

"Angel!"

"Tazzy, come on now. I bet that, when you were Bile's age, you did plenty of looking yourself."

TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, the creator of the juices that aided in the creation of most of the children that were at the table, said nothing in return. What his wife said was true. Yes, he, at Bile's age, had glanced at the ladies that were in his general area. When he was a pupil at Shlane's Academy, Zeta Ren's School of Hard Knots, The School of Gray, The University of Power, and The Academy of Evil, he did plenty of looking at both his fellow female classmates and the female professors; after attending them educations, he continued to look at the ladies that were around him.

TazirVile smiled then went back to his plate of spaghetti—he had forgotten how good his wife's cooking was, and he had also forgotten how good her spaghetti was. He was, in a sense, savoring every bite that he ate.

"G, what'd you do today?" their mother asked Guyunis.

"Read a few novels, then lis-k-tened to some music." Guyunis replied.

"Who has the room that's across the hall then three down from mine?" Eshal asked.

"Me," Guyunis said.

"You torturing any animals? Heard a lot of cat noises coming from... your room today." Eshal asked.

He and his brothers snickered then went quiet. Of course Eshal was hearing "cat noises" coming from Guyunis's bedroom! Guyunis had a kitten who, for the last two weeks, hadn't been allowed to roam as freely as she use to. Guyunis only allowed her to roam when their father and Eshal were out of the house, either walking around the backyard, or standing on the porch, or collecting the mail. The cat was cooped up and she was voicing her annoyance over it. Neither their mother, or Guyunis, or any of them had said a thing about the cat being in the house... the same went with Hazaar and Lazeer having their pet turtles, frogs, and salamanders. They wanted their sister and father to find out about them on their own. Guyunis, they knew, was nervous about what their father and sister would do, or say, after seeing/finding out about his having a cat.

"No," Guyunis answered after glancing at their father, then at their mother, then looking at Eshal.

"Kept thinking that I heard cat noises this morning as well." their father said. The man said nothing more for a few minutes; he ate a few forkfuls of his spaghetti, got a "pleased" look to the face with each bite and then swallow, then wiped his mouth with a napkin before speaking again. "Noticed that Lhaklar was putting a lot of produce in the fridge earlier. Someone in the family a health freak, or was that bought for another reason?"

"While some of us like eating an occasional, raw fruit and vegetable, we don't really indulge in full-on healthy eating." their mother answered.

"Then, what's the point in you buying all that produce?"

"Do a little exploring instead of planting your behind on the living room couch and you'll find out."

"Oooooooo!"

TazirVile smiled at his wife's words then started the process of taking a gander at the youngsters that were at the table. He started with the child that was to his right; along with being the oldest of his children, she was his only daughter.

Eshal, who was given the name of EshalVile Eskara Surfeit, but who went by plain Eshal by pretty much everyone that she came in contact with, was born out of his first wife, Bespe Rakaduc. His only daughter stood five foot, four inches; she had light blue skin and very feminine, cat-like eyes that were a pretty, green color. The pupil, that sat in their centers, was a normal, black color. Like all of his biological children, she had suction cups on the tips of each of her fingers. Her face had a heart-shaped mouth, a small nose, and high cheek bones in it. Her hair ran all the way down her back; except for the bangs, which were a purple, it was a pretty, light blue color. She was wearing a green, wrap blouse and black leggings. The low-heeled shoes, that were on her feet, were a dark green color. His daughter wore no makeup; he had forbade her from using the stuff until she got older.

"And then we have Hazaar beside her."

His secondborn son, who was given the name of HazaarVile Tlair Surfeit, but who, he presumed, went by plain Hazaar by everyone that he knew or came in contact with, was incorrectly gendered all throughout his wife's pregnancy. During the routine ultra-sound, in his excitement over finally being able to have surviving children with his wife, he jerked his hand then exposed what he and his wife thought were their unborn's genitalia. Instead of being called Hazaar during the eight and a half months that he was in the womb, he was called Phloowa. He was more than a little shocked to see a penis and testicles after the birth. The name chosen for his son was actually a re-working of what his father said after his birth; after the man said Hoozah, his wife exchanged the two O's for A's and the final H with an R. He was the one to give Hazaar his middle name.

Hazaar stood five foot, eleven inches. Along with having dark blue skin, he had a lean body build. Hazaar's head was shaped much like Lhaklar's—an upside down, teardrop. Like Lhaklar, he had two holes where a nose would normally be and an O-shaped mouth. His son's eyes were differently colored, and shaped, than his firstborn's; they were both a rather shiny, deep purple color and were of the wrap-around sort. Like Eshal and Lhaklar, Hazaar had suction cups on the ends of each of his fingers. Unlike Lhaklar, who had no hair on his head, Hazaar had a four and a half inch long deep purple rattail sticking out from the back of his head. Hazaar was wearing a brown shirt that was tucked into a pair of multi-brown pants that were faded slightly at the knees but were greatly faded in the thigh regions. The shoes, that were on his feet, were brown; they had light brown laces on them. Hazaar was one thousand, seven hundred, and two years old.

"Got 'em good, mom!" Lazeer, who smacked five with Hazaar after their mother said something on his exploring the house instead of sitting in the living room, exclaimed.

Lazeer had no idea how much of a scare he and his mother went through when he was born. Along with being born prematurely, the doctors didn't want to put in the effort to make him stronger. In all, he spent three and a half weeks in the hospital being being "green-lit" to go home.

Angel actually left his abode four months after Lazeer was born. Her father had threatened to take her from her sons after their youngest was born; by his doing that, he scared her enough to flee and to take the boys with her. If not for his wife's constant care, their youngest son wouldn't be in the house or at the table with them now.

Lazeer, despite his premature birth, was a right healthy thing. Along with being six feet tall, he had a lean, and strong, body build. His skin complexion was periwinkle-blue. The shiny, silver-colored eyes, that were in his upside down, teardrop-shaped head, were circular in shape. Lazeer didn't have a full head of hair, nor did he sport a rattail or was bald; instead, he sported a single, horizontal row of brick-red hair that went from one side of his head to the other. The row of hair was both bristly in appearance and two-inches in width. While his son's hair wasn't dull by any means, it didn't glow like his mother's. His youngest son's facial features were much like Lhaklar's and Hazaar's—he had two holes where a nose would normally be and an O-shaped mouth. Like his sister and brothers, he had suction cups on the ends of each of his fingers. Lazeer was wearing a dark gray mesh shirt and a pair of dark brown pants that were torn at the knees. The pair of multi-brown and gray shoes, that were on his feet, had dark gray ties on them.

His son, earlier that day, was wearing a flexible bandage around the left side of his face. Upon his anger-induced, hurried entrance to the planet, the glass window, that was in Lazeer's bedroom, burst inwards and Lazeer, who claimed to be pinned to the floor at the time, wasn't able to get out of the way of the glass or raise his hands to protect himself. The gash, that went across his son's eye, was out and in the open; as if the gash wasn't bad enough, the left side of his son's face was also very badly bruised. He was trying to keep his son from removing the bandage that he, for the last two weeks, was applying to the injured half of his face; Lazeer, like all male children, was either being stubborn or was insistent on toughing it out. Lazeer was one thousand, six hundred, and two years old. His full name was LazeerVile Zuluduz Surfeit; he presumed that he had everyone that either knew or came in contact with him call him Lazeer.

"What programs caught your fancy today, dad?" Bile asked.

"Nothing more than the news... and the crappy soaps that come on after the news." TazirVile replied.

"Give him a dust pan and feather duster, ma! Them soaps will have him transformed into a woman in no time."

Bile, though regarded as one of his children, was actually sired by his nephew. Vile, or, as he continued to want to be called, Master Vile, was both the father of this young man and his mother; despite this, he didn't act very fatherly towards neither of them. With the boy being raised under his roof since birth up to when he was removed after Lazeer was born, he saw himself as his father figure; Bile was regarded as his stepson from birth up to four hundred years and six months then, after he adopted him, he started calling him a full-on son.

His oldest son was quite tall at six foot, three inches. His big, strong body matched his height perfectly—if he had to make any guesses on what he weighed, he'd have to say that he was over two hundred pounds... and none of that was fat either. Bile's appearance resembled his birth-father's; along with being bi-colored, with his left side being yellow and his right being green, his elongated ears ran half the length of his shoulders. His ears, while being dark green in color, had a series of light green, Tiger-like stripes on them. His eyes were a glowing, yellow-green color; the pupils, that were in their centers, were black.

Bile was wearing a pair of dark brown pants. His matching shirt had some rips and tears in the chest and stomach areas. The pair of dark brown boots, that were on his feet, looked pretty heavy. Bile was two thousand, two hundred, and two years old.

"No sir, I don't think so. Not anytime soon." TazirVile said.

"Yeah, let's keep you as being the gender that you are." Angel said. "If you turned into a woman, I'd be out of husband."

"And neither you nor I want that."

He and his wife laughed then silence was achieved at the table. After five minutes of uninterrupted silence occurred, he looked at the kid that was the cause of him and his family still being on Earth.

Up to two weeks ago, he didn't know his name or association with the family. He just took him as someone bullying his sons, and causing them harm and grief in their "stressed" lives of "bachelorhood". He, like everyone else in his family, was floored after finding him in the residence with his family... they were also floored after learning his age, identity, and, of course, parentage.

The quiet and nervous kid, that was seated beside his wife, was his wife's adopted son. Along with having skin that was as black as could be, he had a set of eyes that were both a bright-glowing, yellow color and were shaped like scalene triangles. The kid was quite burly, with the greatest muscle build-up being on his arms, chest, shoulders, and back—most, of which, was heavily covered in bandaging. Like his sire, he had a more "slender" build from the waist on down. Along with being a good, six foot, three and a half inches tall, he had a set of badly cracked, dark gray fingernails on each of his fingers. His dark face had a snub-like nose, thin to medium-sized lips, a square-shaped jaw, and a slightly rough brow in it. The hair, that was on his head, was a nice, shiny, black color; it went way past his shoulders.

The kid was wearing just three things: a pair of black jeans, that went down to just below his knees, and that were pretty well ripped in the upper thigh regions; a pair of brown boots, that looked rather heavy; and the remnants of a blue hoodie. The hood part of the garment that was draped over his shoulders was the only thing remaining on the piece. Other than the material garments, he had a series of chains on himself. One was wrapped around his neck loosely; it connected to the strand that ran around his shoulders and chest. Another was short; it ran down from the one that ran around his shoulders then connected with the chain belt that was around his waist.

The youngster's name was Guyunis... or, more specifically, GuyunisVile Lytro Surfeit. He was one thousand, nine hundred, and one years old. His mother was a woman named Lisa Ann Wahlberg while his father was... well, the man who was responsible for this kid was his own grandfather—ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit. Since the kid was his father's half-brother, that automatically made him his uncle. From what he was able to observe, the kid was right attached to his wife and sons; it looked like both of his blood-parents had decided to abandon him. Guyunis's mother had given him up for adoption right after he was born while Guyunis's father... well, he acted downright unfavorable towards him. Instead of accepting the fact of siring an illegitimate son, his grandfather roared about the kid's name needing to be changed, about Angel needing to send him back to the orphanage, and about her and her sons needing to forget about him. When none of them instructed things were done, his grandfather got mad then stormed out of the residence. As far as he knew, no one had heard a thing from him since.

He had already made a point several hundred years ago about how, if he found his wife with any other children that were sired by anyone other than himself, he wasn't going to split her from any of them. Even though he was annoyed over having to stay on the planet for six months, he was willing to do so—Guyunis, though big and burly, was a youngster... who had very nervous side to himself. For the first week of his and his daughter's stay in the residence, he had either steered clear or tip-toed around them. He had also obscured his facial features by wearing his hoodie. Either Guyunis had gotten use to them being in the residence or he forgot about putting his hood up. This was the first time since his and Eshal's residency in the house that he had seen the kid walk around with his hood down.

"This is quite good, Angel." TazirVile said. He pointed his fork at his half-full plate of spaghetti.

"Glad you like it." Angel replied. "Don't forget there's bread and cheese on the table—don't eat too much now, think you'll be disappointed if you do."

"What's for dessert, ma?" Bile asked.

"You'll find out after everyone's done eating." Angel replied.

"Think I'll take you up on the exploring thing in the next few days," TazirVile said to his wife. "Along with moving upstairs, I'll start with the room that you sleep in then—"

"Five euros says that his "exploring" won't be of the normal, room sort." Bile said.

"And that he'll not be leaving it after he goes in. With his going into that room, no one'll get any sleep." Lhaklar said. When his father looked at him sharply, he added, "The headboard being knocked against the wall will keep us up all night."

"Not unless I have say on that." Hazaar said.

"Ma doesn't need birth control when you're in the house." Bile chuckled.

If not for the conversation that he and his family had a few days ago, he would of started wondering if his sons didn't want him or their mother to be around one another and, if he didn't know how his secondborn was with his magazines, he'd be wondering if he wasn't straight. His sons were constantly picking on him and their mother whenever they saw them getting affectionate; most of the time, it was Bile and Lhaklar who picked on them but, from time to time, Lazeer would join in on the fun as well. Nine times out of ten, Hazaar was called in to separate them after the affections were noted. Hazaar would just rush in, get right in the middle of him and his mother, then say for them to go to other parts of the house. The first few times that his son did this, he was confused. The rest of the times that Hazaar did this, he went along with the joke. He and his wife went their separate ways only to resume their affections after the boys went to either their "Cave" or their bedrooms. Interestingly, Eshal was also saying how she wished that he and his wife would pipe down on the affections—she claimed that they were embarrassing her.

As far as he knew, all of his children were straight. They looked at or expressed an interest in the opposite gender and it looked like none of them had any interests in their own gender. A few days ago, after he asked his sons if there was anything wrong with him being around their mother, or if they didn't want him to be around their mother, they responded by saying that they were fine with them being around one another. They were just "fibbing" around, or trying to "crawl under" his and their mother's skin, was what they said.

While he tried to not over-indulge in feasting on the spaghetti that was before him, he feared that he did overdo it. Last year, after finding his wife and sons missing, he found it quite difficult to eat. There was no ambition or drive to eat; he had to push himself to eat, and to do other, normal-day activities. The consumption of his meals, and the task of doing simple, everyday things, became a little easier after his wife and sons' location was found; now that they were tracked down, and that he knew where they were, and now that he and Eshal were living under the same roof as they, he had no problems in eating or in doing simple, everyday tasks.

A decent-sized helping of spaghetti was placed on his plate. Some Parmesan cheese was added at the last second then a sprinkle of salt was added on top of that. He ate all of that with no problem before asking Bile to pass the bowl that had the garlic bread slices in it down to him; two slices of garlic bread were eaten before he decided to put a halt on consuming anything else. Eshal ate a seemingly similar supper to his while most of the boys had slightly smaller meals than them; Hazaar was the only one of his offspring to over-indulge in putting the cheese on his spaghetti.

"Don't think I need to be told that Hazaar's a cheese-lover." he said after everyone finished eating.

"Hazaar's not a cheese-lover," Lhaklar said. "He's a cheese-freak!"

"Monster is more like it." Lazeer said.

"If we had mice, or any other rodents roaming this place, we'd never be able to catch or kill them. We'd catch nothing in the traps because Hazaar would be the one taking the cheese blocks from them." Lhaklar said.

"Yes we would! Instead of catching a rodent in the traps, we'd catch one of Hazaar's fingers or his tongue. We'd wake to find him walking around with a trap snapped shut to one or more of his fingers, or with an adornment hanging from his tongue." Lazeer said loudly.

"Then we'd start asking 'was your need for cheese that damn bad' or 'was it worth it' or—" Lhaklar started to say.

"Up yours Greenie." Hazaar spat.

"Alright boys, that's enough." Angel, who had a tray that had a dark cake on it in her hands, said. She placed the tray on the table then went back to the kitchen; four bowls of ice cream were retrieved then brought to the table next.

"Ma..." Bile said.

"What's that?" Eshal asked. She pointed at the cake that was on the tray.

"Is tha-k-t what I think it is, mum?" Guyunis asked.

"Angel?" TazirVile said.

The cake was long and square in shape. While it had a dark coating of chocolate icing on it, there was also a lot of red and green decorations on its outer edges; there was a sprinkling of coconut between the decorations. The bowls of ice cream had either chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry ice cream in them. Angel went back to the kitchen for eight bowls and spoons then returned to the table; she neither said what the cake was or answered any of the questions that were asked.

The bakery at her place of work had received a lot of cakes today. There was just not enough room for them to all be put up or displayed so, in order to cut-down on the surplus cake inventory, some of the prices for some of the cakes were slashed in half. She grabbed the Inside Out German Cake after seeing its price of €12.50—Guyunis was the main one that she was thinking about when she took it; if there was something new and unexpected added to the table, he'd forget about his nervousness about her husband and adoptive daughter being in close proximity to him.

Instead of putting the cake on the table that was designated for the surplus cakes, she took it then stored it in the store's back. After punching out early, then doing the monthly grocery shopping, she went to get it. No one had said a thing after she brought it out from where it was and no one had said a thing over her buying it either. Her boss was just happy to be rid of the extra cakes; he didn't put on a face or blink an eye after seeing that she was leaving the store's back with it. She was the one to bring the cake in; she had wanted it to be a surprise and, from what she was seeing, everyone was surprised over seeing it.

"You know what that is, Guyunis?" her husband asked her son. She waited on baited breath to see if Guyunis would respond to his question or clam up.

"Think so," Guyunis replied. He stood up then went to the kitchen. When he came back, he had a serrated kitchen knife on him. As she sat at the table, he cut into the cake then took the first slice out. His face lit up at once. "It is! Mum..."

"Cut us some slices, G." Angel said. "We're all waiting."

"What is it?" Eshal asked.

"Inside Ou-k-t German Cake," Guyunis replied with no hesitancy at all.

A bowl of ice cream, then a piece and a half of cake, was eaten. He and Eshal had never eaten such a cake before in their lives—they only needed to take one bite to fall in love with the flavor. After they were done with eating, they stood then started making their rounds to the kitchen with the items that they had eaten their meal either on or with. Over the last two weeks, he and Eshal had learned that a routine was done after each meal was eaten. The plates, bowls, silverware, and anything that was used to cook the food either on or with was given a quick-washing then it was all placed on the right side of the sink. Either Angel or one of the boys would take care of the dishes the following day.

The dining room was, what he called, very sparsely furnished. Other than the table, and the eight chairs that came close to matching it, there was just a mahogany china cabinet that had a bowed front in the room. He thought that the three-tier, wooden spice rack, that was full of all sorts of spices that one used for cooking, was in-appropriately placed; instead of being placed in the dining room, it should of been placed in the kitchen. The kitchen was furnished like any other, basic kitchen.

A sleek, black microwave, that had a digital clock above the touch-sensitive buttons, was on the counter that came off the counter bar and the normal counter that was connected to the kitchen sink. A knife block, that had five, different sized knives in it, was on the edge of the counter bar. There was an electric can opener on the counter that was to the right of the stove; a coffee maker, that had a cutting board underneath it, was on the counter that was to the right of the stove. Something that his wife called an Oster Osterizer 14-speed blender was on the counter that was across from the kitchen sink. A dish drain, complete with under-tray, was beside the kitchen sink. A 4-slice toaster was on the counter beside the can opener.

The dining room, and kitchen, had dark cherry vinyl on their floor. The walls, and ceiling, of both rooms was a blue/gray color. The ceiling, that was in both rooms, was normal and flat in appearance. The kitchen counter-tops were volcanic rock quartz while the kitchen cabinets were an exotic, dark cherry Beech wood.

After all of the dishes and tableware were squared away, everyone dispersed in different directions. He went straight to the living room; with seeing how things went during supper, he decided that it was time to move his sleeping arrangements.

"There was no griping, groaning, or fussing when I mentioned the move, or exploring the room that Angel sleeps in..." he thought while going to the living room.

His suitcase, which was neatly stashed behind the sectional couch, was grabbed and then pulled out from its spot. With his suitcase in his possession, he left the room then made his way to the stairs. As far as he could tell, the entire house had red carpeting in it; with the exception of the living room, kitchen, and dining room, the house's walls and ceiling seemed to be a light cream color. When he reached the stairs, he saw that they were flush with the walls. No banister existed with them; if one needed something to aid them in balance, they'd have to lean against one of the walls. The walls on either side of the stairs had a series of framed photographs on them; even though he was curious about looking at them, he didn't stop to do so. There were a total of eleven steps to the stairs; he went up them quickly then started down the hallway that was on the second level. He stopped after going halfway down the hallway; in his excitement to finally be moving his sleeping arrangements from the living room to the room that his wife slept in, he had forgotten all about asking which room it was that she slept in. The only rooms that he had a good bearing on were the living room, kitchen, dining room, basement, the room that came off the basement, the spare room, and Eshal's room. He was clueless as to who all owned the other rooms that were on this level.

"Hazaar," he said after seeing his secondborn leaving the bathroom that was at the far end of the hall.

"Dad?" Hazaar said.

"Which room does your mother sleep in?"

"Two down from the stairs; right side of the hallway." his son replied.

"Thank you," he said. He went to the room that his son directed him to then, after a moment's pause, went in.


	4. Chapter 4

The usual act of his grumbling, then rolling over, was done after his alarm went off at the set time of eight o'clock. After letting the thoughts and mental images of dreams now past run through his mind, he reached his arm over to silence the offending thing that dared to arouse him from a sound slumber. While he wasn't rough with his clock—far from it, actually—, he did flip it over backwards. He cursed when this happened then went to right it.

The clock, that was on his rustic, pallet wood bedside table, was a nifty piece. He had liked it enough to ask for it; he was still fond of it. After righting the clock, which was both skull-themed and had molded resin details and a faux-wooden finish that gave it a real-life, aged oak appearance, he set to work in silencing it. The clock had a hinge on its back; in order for him to turn it off, he had to flip its top part up. The clock's face, which had roman numerals on it, was only seen for a second before the top was dropped. Once the little button was pressed, and the clock was silenced, he dropped back to his bed.

"And so, the fifth day of the month of May starts." Bile said three minutes later, after finally deciding to sit up then rub the sleep from his eyes.

He did as he usually did each morning next. Once he was out of bed, he went to the rustic, mountain pine dresser, that had four drawers on it. He took a pair of boxers, then a pair of brown socks, from the top drawer; after sliding that drawer shut, he went to the next one down for a shirt. After the red shirt, that had a single tear in its chest, and was lacking one of its sleeves, was removed, he slid the drawer shut then went to take a pair of pants from the one below it. The second the pair of dark brown pants were removed from his dresser, and the drawer that he got them from was slid shut, he set to work in dressing himself.

He donned three of the four clothing articles that he removed from the dresser then tossed the pair of socks on his bed. Once his socks were on his bed, he left his room.

"Eshal and the Bros must of overslept, or are being slow this morning." he thought after leaving his room, then going to where the upstairs bathroom was.

Due to there being no one in the hallway, no fights over who got to use the bathroom first happened. When he entered the bathroom, he had it all to himself. He used the toilet, washed his face, brushed his teeth, then left the room. He went back to his bedroom after leaving the bathroom. The closet, that was to the left of his room, was where he went next. He grabbed the pair of rugged, red-brown leather boots—the ones that he got from his mother last year, on Christmas—then went to his bed. His socks, then his boots, were slid on then he made his bed. With his bed made, he turned then left his room for the second time that morning.

"Bile," Eshal, his adoptive sister, said.

It looked like his assumption of at least one of his siblings being either slow in getting up, or oversleeping that morning, was correct. His sister, while being dressed for the day, was walking around in a half-daze. He said hello to her then went down the hall; his sister went into the bathroom. Instead of doing as he usually did each morning, which was go down to say hello and good morning to his mama, he made a side trip to see the second of his adoptive siblings.

As of the last two weeks and four days, this side trip of his had become a new usual in his morning routine. With his adoptive father and sister in the building, causing all matter of daily routine "disruptions", he had made a point to either check-in on Guyunis soon after waking up or sticking around home. Guyunis had come close to both having a heart attack and shitting his pants on the seventeenth of April; with most of the whole of their family being in the house, yelling and cursing and throwing their misconceptions on or about him around, he had just not had a good day at all—which was rather ironic, since he was having a grand day before their sudden appearance occurred. He hadn't slept a wink in the four days that followed that day... and the reason for that was quite clear. With most of the whole of their family being in the building, trying to get their mother to drop him like a bad cold, and with his adoptive father and sister moving in, he was a nervous wreck.

It took Guyunis all of a week to calm down, and to not be but so nervous. Having their mother around had helped in downing his anxiety levels, so had having either he or Lhaklar around to keep him company. Lazeer was sick with the flu at the time, so he wasn't able to aid in bringing Guyunis's anxiety levels down, and Hazaar was dealing with both his cold and his own anxiety demons, so he wasn't able to help either. The chore of calming Guyunis down had fallen mostly on his mother's, his, and Lhaklar's shoulders; even though Guyunis was returning to being like his old, normal self, something happened four days ago to cause him to do a "mild" regression. The process of Guyunis making a return to normal life was stopped after his adoptive father was discovered as rooming with their mother.

The meal, on the first of the month, was nice, and Guyunis was able to forget about his nervousness and about his father and sister being in the house. The Inside Out German cake, that their mother brought home, had caused him to further forget about them two things. Guyunis had started acting like his old, former self after the meal was consumed; they were overjoyed over the sudden change that happened with him. That overjoyed mood had come to a crash-halt about two hours later, after Guyunis, who only wanted to say goodnight to their mother, walked into their mother's bedroom to find not just their mother getting ready for bed but also their father.

Guyunis had come close to leaping through the roof after seeing the man in the room that was beside his own. Their mother was quick in escorting him from her room; she spent all of thirty minutes with him afterwards. Really, none of them needed to ask if he was nervous over having the "terribly spooky alien-man" sleeping in the room that was beside his. Guyunis had worn plenty of bags under his eyes the morning following the discovery of the old man being in their mother's bedroom; them bags had remained under his brother's eyes the two mornings that followed. Guyunis had reverted to being a nervous wreck again, sadly but surely.

"Took all of five days after dad and Eshal moved in before the curiosity bug started nipping him," he thought as he gave Guyunis's bedroom door two, light raps. "Guyunis started peekin' his head out of his room, then down the hall at Eshal's, five days in."

"Who is i-k-t?" Guyunis's low, strong, nasally-sounding voice called from the other side of the door.

"The Pizza Man," he replied. His deep, strong, and powerful voice was very normal when he spoke.

"Pizza Man? Who the hell's tha-k-t?" from what he could tell, Guyunis was behind the door. He couldn't help but smile then play in on a little Early Morning Brother Joking.

"Pizza The Hutt's mean-ass cousin." he returned. "Instead of being made of pepperoni and cheese, I'm made of syrup, grass, and anchovies."

"Gross!" the sound of the door's lock being turned was heard. He grabbed the door knob; automatic shock settled over him when he realized that the door was just locked on him. "Go away, Pizza Man! No admission!"

"Fine with me, I can always anchovy-bomb the door in." he snickered as he jingled the door's knob.

So far, he was liking what he was hearing. Guyunis was reciprocating his playfulness; he wasn't acting mopish or shy, and he didn't sound nervous either. He jingled the door's knob twice, then mock-banged his shoulder into it, then spun out a few "taunts" on how the "Pizza Man" was going to send his minions of anchovies under its crack—his fingers came to be "stepped" on when he followed through with that "taunt" a few seconds later. Guyunis laughed evilly after he mock-banged his shoulder into the door again then, like that, the door was unlocked and then swung open. Guyunis practically charged from his room a half-second later.

"Pizza Man, eh? I see no Pizza Man," Guyunis said after grabbing and then putting him in a mild head-lock. "I see my oldest bruder."

"Yeah, well, I see a brother of mine getting a noogie."

It was really no contest—while Guyunis was close to being his size, he was stronger and quicker. He got himself free from his brother's grip then grabbed him around the shoulders. Two rounds of ten second noogies followed; Guyunis, though trying his best to get out from under his grip, wasn't allowed to escape. It was obviously that Guyunis hadn't yet visited the bathroom—his noogies made his already messed up hair look even messier.

"Woops! So sorry, Bro. Made you go from having a normal Bad Hair Day to having an even worse one." Bile laughed. Guyunis shook his head, then slowly got up from the floor that he found himself on.

"When mum asks who pu-k-t the extra-big Hams-k-ter in the bathroom sink, I'm pinning-k the blame on you." Guyunis said. He went to his room, disappeared for only a second, then returned to the hallway. He was fast in closing the door after leaving the room.

"Nah, it won't me. It was the one-armed man. T'was he who put that extra-big Hamster in the bathroom sink." Bile sang.

She was just coming from the bathroom when Guyunis, the boy who, at one time, was thought of as a dangerous man who was hell-bent on hurting her baby brothers, started heading down the hall. Guyunis, who's hair was a horrible mess, stopped on a dime after seeing her; he stood, motionless, for all of five seconds before turning then heading away from her. The boy, who, just recently, she discovered as being a brother of hers, went down the stairs then disappeared. She stood where she was for a few seconds before going down the hall; towards Bile, the brother who she was such a pest to at one time in the past.

"How long have you known him?" she asked after reaching her brother's side.

"For a while now—since I was five hundred and seventy-three." Bile replied.

"Has he always been like this? So... shy, or nervous?"

"He's not really of the shy type. With all of what he's gone through, he's more wary than shy." Bile answered.

"He'll come out of it, right?" Eshal asked.

"Y—" Bile started to answer. His mother's voice suddenly overshadowed his own; he clamped his mouth shut after hearing her.

"Give him a while, Eshal. It won't take but so long for him to get use to you."

Guyunis, clad in his usual chains, a pair of light brown cargo shorts, that were pretty much destroyed from the knees on down, and a pair of well-worn, steel-toed, waterproof logger boots, came down to use the downstairs bathroom right when she was about to give the call about breakfast being ready. She was quick in figuring that either her husband or Eshal was leaving the upstairs bathroom and about Guyunis not wanting to use that bathroom because of one or the other of them being in close proximity to him. After she saw her son go into the bathroom, she went to see if any "talks" were going on about him. While she was perfectly fine in having Bile discuss certain thing that recently happened in Guyunis's history with his sister, she would much prefer for him to not go but so much in detail about what all Guyunis had gone through before she finally put her foot down in wanting to adopt him.

Her adopted son was born on June 27, 2000; his mother, Lisa Ann Walhberg, had tried all throughout her pregnancy to get rid of him. While being successful in going to the abortion clinics, and then filling out the forms that she was required to do, Lisa wasn't successful in having him expelled from her. Lisa ran out of each of the abortion clinics that she went to just seconds before being called in for the procedure to be done. Lisa didn't want anything to do with her only son and child; after giving birth, she gave the order that he be taken from her. The older of the two midwives, that were there to tend her, was only able to get her to milk herself so her son could get the colostrum that he needed to stay healthy; no attempt on her part could get Lisa to accept him. Guyunis was no more than six hours old when he was admitted to the adoption agency that handled his adoptions.

While she knew a lot about her son, she was sadly clueless on how he was towards one of alien origins. She knew that the treatment that he received from the families that took him "on" as a "child" of theirs was the root cause of why he was so wary of others. The people who adopted him hadn't treated him right at all; they either abused, or neglected, or used him as a sort of servant or slave. She was damn intent on her and her family being the last stop for him; no more adoptions would happen. No more "hand-off's", and no more pain, or further abuse, would happen. Guyunis, who had spent most of his life being treated like scum, was now to have the life that he should of had from the start.

"Tazir seemed to be understanding towards my reason in wanting to stay here." she thought.

While he tried to convince her to leave, he didn't do any crying, bitching, complaining, or accusing about having to stay. He just nodded his head then went to collect his things, and Eshal.

She wasn't really sure about how Eshal felt about the situation, which was why she was being a bit rude in interrupting Bile during his conversation with his sister. Eshal, who was another adopted child of hers, knew nothing about Guyunis. She didn't want Bile to say something that was incorrect about Guyunis and she didn't want Bile, or any of her other sons, to confuse her either. If Eshal was to learn about Guyunis, she'd much prefer for her to come to her instead of to one of her brothers.

"Morning mam," Eshal, who had always called her mother mam, mamma, or mammy, said after seeing her mother standing by the landing of the stairs. "Sleep well?"

"Good morning, Eshal. Slept very well, hope your sleep went well." Angel said.

"Only half-so." Eshal, who's face suddenly became cloudy, replied. "I kept hearing these... high-piercing calls last night. Couldn't sleep because of them. They were right creepy."

"High-piercing calls?" Angel looked at Bile, who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, they seemed to be coming from the walls."

Along with being up for a little over fifteen minutes, her routine was done quickly. After using the bathroom, then getting dressed, she went down to make breakfast. Tazir, who was sleeping with her for the last four nights, had also mentioned hearing a "high-piercing call" last night—after coming downstairs, he asked her if she heard them; she was frank in shaking her head. No, she was sound asleep last night. No high-piercing calls were heard by her.

Even though she knew what it was that was making the calls, and where they were coming from, she didn't say a word about them. Tazir, and Eshal, would have to find out about them on their own.

"Bile, do me a favor in seeing if your brothers are up. Breakfast in five." Angel said before turning then going down the stairs.

"You didn't hear them?" Eshal asked Bile after their mother returned to the house's first level.

"Once my head hit the pillow, I was out." Bile answered.

"Lhaklar and Lazeer were kidding around about the house having mice in it, right?" Eshal asked.

"The only "rodents" that live here are the scrubs that I call my brothers." Bile replied, then started making his rounds in knocking on Hazaar's, Lhaklar's, and then Lazeer's bedroom doors. "Hey in there! Anyone up? Ma says breakfast in five and I do believe she meant five minutes and not hours!"

Ubeknown to Guyunis, he was in close proximity to him when he came out to rough house with Bile. After asking his wife if she heard the high-piercing calls, then telling her good morning, then giving her a kiss, he returned to the room that he slept in for the last four nights to simply... well... eavesdrop on the kids. He had wanted to see how they went by their morning routines; from what he could tell, Bile's morning routine was very normal. A small use of his Telepathic abilities was done just after his adopted son's alarm went off. Bile remained in bed for around three or so minutes before getting up, getting dressed, then going to use the bathroom. His use of his Telepathic abilities had stopped there—what one did in the bathroom was his/her and only his/her business.

He was quite confused over Lhaklar's, Hazaar's, and Lazeer's morning routines. They did nearly the same as Bile after their alarms went off; while they got up from bed, then got dressed, they didn't go off to use the bathroom. They just milled around in their rooms... doing odd and end things that he wasn't able to detect with his small usage of his Telepathy. While tempted to use a stronger form of his Telepathy to see what they were doing, he didn't do so. Instead of barging further in on them with his Telepathy, he gave them some privacy.

He already knew what Eshal did in her morning routines, so he didn't use his Telepathic skills to see what she was doing. With Guyunis being as nervous as he was, he plain decided to leave him be—how was the kid to start trusting him if he knew of his using his Telepathy to see what did in a room that he either slept or spent a good chunk of his time in? He didn't see his use of his Telepathic skills on his sons as wrong. He wasn't looking in on them in a wrong way. He was just curious over what they did after waking. And, besides, they wouldn't be finding out about his use of his Telepathic skills anyways. He wouldn't be spilling this one morning's use of his Telepathic skills to anyone and he had no plans in using his Telepathy to spy on the kids when they're in the house again.

"Well, it's about time that you decided to move yourself into my abode." his wife said after finding him walking around the room that Hazaar directed him towards.

Upon entering the room, he found himself corrected on the house having all-red carpet in it. One look was enough to tell him that it was just the living room, stairs, and hallways that had red carpet on them. While the make of the room's carpet was the same as the rest of the house's, the color was darker. Instead of it being plain red, it was dark red.

The carpet wasn't the only surprise that he received. He had expected for the room to be a normal, parent's room—complete with a half dozen or so luxury items thrown in to make it seem more lived-in. He had found himself as giving the room a double once-over after walking in; it was the exact opposite of what he expected. Instead of the normal, parent's room that he envisioned, he walked in on what he called a plain, simple room—while there were luxury items in it, they weren't what he envisioned.

In his figuring, the room that he and his wife had on Moas was more on the comfortable, luxurious side—with more than a dozen specialty items thrown in to give it that lived-in feeling. A normal, parent's room was a step below that—it was the type of room that one who had a peasant background, who couldn't afford but so much, and who was also trying to be as normal and as mature as could be, would have. The room that he found himself sleeping in was a step below that; it was, in comparison to his and his wife's bedroom chamber on Moas, quite boring.

Angel called the room that he was currently standing in the middle of the Master Bedroom. While it was big, and resembled that type of room, it didn't boast the items that he considered a normal master's bedroom would have in it. The frame of the bed, that he kept his wife company in for the last four nights, had a real oak finish to it that was a dark brown color. A small, medium-brown oak bedside table was to its left. A large waisted ceramic lamp and a basic, two-belled alarm clock sat on the table's surface. A medium-brown oak dresser was to the left of the room; a 30" flat screen tv was mounted on the wall above it. He had made the decision to use the dresser's fourth and fifth drawers for his pants and shirts—most curiously, them two drawers were found as being empty. He and his wife were sharing the dresser's top drawer—her feminine undergarments and socks were to one side of the drawer while his undergarments, ties, and socks were on the other.

The four-shelf, red-brown oak bookcase, that was beside the room's walk-in closet, had a few items on it—mostly framed photographs of her and the boys. There were a few, small potted plants, a few cookbooks, a few discs of music, and a knitting kit that had all the fixings on the bookcase too. A set of plain, dark blue curtains hung from the rod of the room's window. That was really it on the furniture that was in the room; just the basic, plain items. He would be a liar if he went around saying that he hadn't checked to see if the spare room and the master bedroom weren't switched—after placing his suitcase down, he went to the spare room, then saw that it was where it was suppose to be, then returned to the "master bedroom". Angel had chuckled after he asked if the room that he was told was hers was really the master bedroom; before going downstairs, she gave him a kiss on the cheek then said that it was.

"There's a few things in here that have good purpose, and that I like." he thought.

The jewelry box, that was on the dresser, was one of them purpose-filled items. Along with having an antique walnut finish, and a white leather interior, it looked like it needed to be expanded—its jewelry was either all jumbled up or fighting for space. The room's next purpose-filled item was in the closet, which he only entered to hang his week-supply of tuxedo jackets and vests in. The 10-pocket hanging shoe organizer was half-full, so his wife might need a new one soon. While he was in the closet, he also found a few, nice dresses, a top-quality, feminine jacket, and two purses in it.

That was really it on the room's luxury items. He had felt a sort of pity and anger rise in him after seeing the room; it sadly looked like his wife had allowed herself to drop in standards.

"While she's never been of the over-affluent type, she was living a lot more elegantly when she was residing on Moas. Bet that, once I have her on Moas again, she'll return to that way of living and fast." he thought as he turned to look at the room's full-sized bed.

The bed's bed set was the item that he liked. Along with being Champagne-colored, it was ruffled and rosetted. His wife had called it a romance bed set; he came close to snickering after hearing her call it that. The bed's pillows—a throw, a neck roll, and two shams—matched it perfectly. He made one, crude joke on the bedding that was on the bed—he said that he'd find himself caught and fast on night one; his wife had laughed and then said for him to keep anything that was "an extra appendage" well contained so that wouldn't happen.

"With the exception of Guyunis, who reverted to being quiet and nervous while being around my daughter and I, and Hazaar, who seems to be the type of person who's quiet and to-himself during the morning hours, all of the boys were quite vocal on the mornings that followed my nightly residency in their mother's room."

Bile would always start off the joking. He'd say something on how he heard the walls of the room beside his rattling, then Lazeer would chime in by saying how he heard "moaning" and "screaming" during the night, then Lhaklar would come in by saying how he "felt" a vibration going on with the floor. Eshal would agree with Lhaklar on the upstairs floor "phantom" vibrations then she'd say something around the area of hearing bed springs creaking. He and his wife took the jokes for all of fifteen minutes before silencing them; they'd say that nothing happened during the alleged noise-making—which was true—then they'd insist on something else being spoken of.

It wouldn't surprise anyone, though, to learn that he did give it a good consideration about turning around and then engaging the lovely woman in the age-old act of intercourse. In all the years that she and the boys were missing, he hadn't gone out to find someone to take his sexual frustrations out on or to just "get a taste". While having her sleeping in the same bed as he was nice, and while having her soothing, resting presence so close to him during the night hours was also nice, it was also quite hard to not tap into the side of him that wanted to indulge in the act that he was forced to abandon for so long.

"That part of married life will resume itself after you've gained a better foot-hold in your relationship with Angel and the boys." he kept telling himself.

With his curiosity over what his sons did in their morning routines satiated, he left the room that he was holding himself down in then went downstairs. His young came down soon after he did, and just before the allotted five minutes that their mother said breakfast would be ready. Guyunis, he discovered, was all huddled up against Angel—even though the boy's freak-out moment came close to causing him to return to his prior sleeping arrangements, he didn't grab his suitcase or put the things that he put in his wife's dresser or closet back in it or go back to sleeping on the couch. While coming close to doing them things, the adult side of him had just plain said for him to not do so—like with his getting use to him and his daughter being in the house, Guyunis also had to learn how to get use to him and his daughter being close to him. Guyunis couldn't do the tip-toe routine forever and he couldn't go around being nervous or wary of him or his daughter forever either; if he was to be moved to Moas, and then reside with him and his family in his mansion, he had to get use to him... and Eshal, of course.

"Eshal. Boys." he said after his children reached the dining room.

"Dad," it was a surprise but Lhaklar sounded very tired.

"Mmmm," Hazaar nodded his head, then sat in his chair.

"Hey," Lazeer, who seemed a little less peppy that morning, mumbled.

"Mornin'," Bile, who seemed the more lively of the five boys, said.

"Morning, daddy." Eshal, who seemed to be fully awake, said.

His daughter did her usual in walking over to give him a hug. Once his hug was given, she went to the chair that she was taking her meals in for the last two and a half weeks. The only one of the five boys who said nothing to him was Guyunis; he remained very tight-lipped where he was. He took his place at the table then waited for his wife and Guyunis to come over. While waiting, he looked at the oldest of his biological sons.

"I take it that them calls kept you up too?" he said after seeing how haggard Lhaklar's face was, and after seeing that his son had dark green rings around his eyes.

"What calls?" his son asked.

"The high-piercing ones." he said.

"You heard them too!" Eshal exclaimed.

"Yes," since his daughter didn't know that he was on the level that she was on when she spoke of the calls to her mother, he kept his ruse of not knowing that she spoke of them. "I heard them quite loudly and quite clearly."

"They were right creepy, dad." Eshal said. "I don't know what's creepier—the cat sounds that I keep hearing from the room that's across the hall then three down from my own or the high-piercing ones that I heard last night."

"One of the native frogs must of decided to play their love-making notes last night." Bile said.

"Sounded like there was more than one involved in the making of them calls, son." TazirVile said.

"More than one involv... gee, dad, thanks for admitting who made them calls." Bile chuckled.

Either the joke over what all he and his wife didn't do but that the children claimed that they heard them doing during the night hours had run its course, had gotten stale, or no one was interested in being funny that morning. He placed his hand on Lhaklar's shoulder then told him that, if he was that tired, it was okay for him to skip out on breakfast. Lhaklar shook his head then got up from his chair. He watched as his son went to the kitchen, then as he took a mug from one of the cabinets. What he saw him doing next shocked the shoes from his feet.

He was nearing the age of adulthood when he decided to pick up and then try the stuff that his father drank each morning. His father's coffee, he was quick to note, had a horrid taste to it—he also found that he liked it hot. The insides of his mouth, and his tongue, came close to being burned after he took one swig from his father's coffee mug. While he preferred the softer, creamier types of coffee, his father preferred coffee that not only had a plastic taste to it but also tasted rather burnt. One swig of his father's coffee had sent him reeling... his father, being the tough old hard-ass that he was, had done nothing but laugh at him.

Lhaklar poured himself a cup of coffee, then added a dash of what he hoped was creamer and sugar to it, then returned to the table. The oldest of his biological sons stirred the cup's mixture a few times then took a swig; he was so shocked over this that he came close to forgetting that he had a few things on him that he wanted to return to him.

"Think you left a few things behind when you were in my ship last year, Lhaklar." TazirVile said as he reached into his dark green tuxedo jacket.

All of what he had in his inside jacket pocket was returned to his son. The set of keys, which, he presumed, went to the house; the brown leather wallet, that had dark red stitching on it; and the pocketknife, that had a medium redwood handle, that housed a four inch long, stainless steel blade, were placed on the table. With having them items out of his possession, he returned his hand to his pocket then removed the final item that was in it. The envelope, that contained a substantial amount of cash, and one identification card, was given to his son; once this was done, he stood up.

From his back left pants pocket he removed a silver-aluminum cigarette case. Along with having a red velvet interior, and a spring on its inside, and being four inches long by three and a half inches wide, it had an etching of a bull deer jumping over a fallen log on its front. He gave this to his son then sat down. His son, as expected, inspected the returned case immediately after having it returned to him—upon discovering it in his ship, he searched it then found that it contained six, black-papered cigarettes; he discarded all of them, so his son wouldn't find a single one in it.

All of the items that he returned to his son came to be in his possession after Lhaklar was rescued from his nephew's evil clutches. On the eighth of November, his two, younger half-brothers came upon Vile beating his son to a pulp—if not for Efagti and Amadh coming upon his son when they did, he and his wife might of lost a child. Lhaklar actually stopped breathing after his brothers came upon what they did; by Amadh's actions, he started breathing again—he stopped breathing twice but, on the second loss of his breath, he regained it without needing help. His ship's medical table managed to fix most of the injuries that his son received on that day; after Lhaklar was removed from the table, then put in one of his ship's rooms, then given a mind sedative to keep him sleeping, he started searching through the pockets of his pants. After finding what he did, he confiscated it then put it away for safe-keeping.

With the exception of the cigarettes, and the wallet's fake I.D. and driver's license, all of what he found on that day was returned to its owner.

"Thanks," a still-sleepy and tired Lhaklar said. He opened the envelope then counted the money that was in it; the sigh over finding all €188.85, that was in his wallet when he was attacked by his mother's father last year, was barely sustained. He placed the money, and the one identification card, in one of the pockets of his green striped, formal pants then resumed the drinking of his coffee.

"No problem." TazirVile said.

He went upstairs for just a second then, when he returned, he had a few things in his hands that were once owned by Hazaar. Like Lhaklar, Hazaar had left something behind in his ship; unlike his brother, who left his just-returned items in his ship on the eighth of November, Hazaar left his items behind on the seventeenth of April.

A red-brown leather wallet, that's front flap had a head and back crocodile pattern on it; a small pocketknife, that had a golden dragon handle, that had a can opener on it that was fashioned to look like a pair of wings, which housed a four inch long, stainless steel blade; a set of keys; a three-inch long strand of braided hair; and two rolls of coins were returned to his son. Hazaar mumbled his thanks then pocketed each item that was given to him.

Like Lhaklar, Hazaar came to be apprehended by him after he had a malicious encounter with Vile. Amadh, the second oldest of his mother and stepfather's sons, had come upon his nephew trying to do the same to him as he had with Lhaklar. Amadh did as much as he could to help his son get away from Vile; in the end, his stepfather, Cheshire Keueitt Ubalki, had to brought in—Amadh was beaten and injured, and he was also at his limit. His stepfather's involvement had to be done to ensure that what his nephew was trying to do wouldn't happen. His secondborn son had spent all of three hours in his ship before escaping; he, Cheshire, and two of his staff had tracked him to this very residence soon he escaped.

With the exception of the unopened pack of cigarettes, and the few sticks of some substance called GUM, all of what he found in his son's pants pockets were returned to him. While he had the GUM sticks on him, he didn't want to hand them over just yet. He wanted to be sure on what they were before giving them back to the one that he found them on—neither he nor any of his staff knew what they were; he didn't want to give his son something that was found on his person until after he was sure that it was safe for him. For all he knew, the sticks of GUM could be drugs.

"What's GUM?" he asked after sitting in his designated chair.

"A soft, cohesive substance designed for chewing but not swallowing." Lhaklar answered sleepily. "It's made from butadiene-based synthetic rubber. Most chewing gums are considered polymers."

"For those who are fully awake, it's nothing more than candy." Bile said.

For the record, he was both awake and knew what Lhaklar said. A polymer was a large molecule, or macromolecule, composed of many repeated subunits. Because of their broad range of properties, both synthetic and natural polymers play an essential and ubiquitous role in everyday life. Polymers that were consumed were said to enhance memory, cut down on plaque and reduce cavities, reduce the chance of having bad breath, and reduce the chance of getting stomach ulcers and/or Gastroesophageal reflux disease; if what his son said was true, then he was all for Hazaar having and then... chewing the substance that he was currently returning to him. He was making his way back to his chair when his wife, and Guyunis, came towards the table.

"You know the drill now. Make a neat line before the stove; no fighting while getting your breakfast, please." Angel said after sitting in the chair that she frequently sat in when she ate her meals.

Unless Angel made the decision to make and then give everyone a plate, everyone made their plates on their own. He had found himself as being phenomenally surprised over this; normally, the mother of the household would make the plates for everyone—it was very apparent that his wife was no ordinary mother. He had also received a shock over who it was that manned the stove; over the two and a half weeks that he and his daughter were living in the residence, it wasn't just Angel who cooked the family meals.

Sometimes, Bile cooked and, if not, Lhaklar did. He and Eshal had caught most of the boys working the stove; it looked like Angel had taught each and every one of her sons how to cook and, by way of their consuming what the boys were cooking, it also looked like they were good cooks. With Guyunis being as nervous as he was, he had yet to see if he knew how to cook.

Whenever Angel didn't make and then distribute the meals to the family, a neat and organized line formed before the stove. As always, he waited until the "congestion" in the kitchen was done before going in to make himself a plate and then get himself a cup of Joe. Breakfast was said to be the most important meal of the day, so he didn't hang back or restrict himself to what was available—a simple pancake, that was slathered in syrup, an over-easy egg, two hash browns, and a croissant were put on his plate before he decided to go to the table.

He no more sat down before Eshal yanked herself towards him.

"Ew, Hazaar!" his daughter exclaimed.

"What?" Hazaar nearly barked at his sister.

"What, the first fart of the morning come from that side of the table or something?" Bile asked.

"Eshal..."

It was rude, but he was curious over what was happening between his daughter and secondborn son so, instead of asking the question, he looked at the two children that were bickering. At first, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Everyone was at the table and was being silent; no foul smells were being detected, so, as far as he knew, no gases were passed. It was only when he looked at the two plates that his children had before them that he understood what was going on.

Eshal's plate was well composed. She had a croissant, a hash brown, half of a fried egg, and a half-pancake all nicely arranged on it. Nothing out of order or odd was happening with his daughter's breakfast, so he turned his gaze towards his son's plate. Once his eyes were on the plate, he noticed what was going on.

Hazaar's plate was quite messy in comparison to his sister's. The cause of this lay in the one fried egg that was on the pancake. Hazaar had made himself a plain breakfast that morning, and he also did something that he sometimes did with his fried eggs and pancakes.

He couldn't help but laugh after seeing what he did. The sight of the egg yolk dripping... oozing across and then down the sides of his son's syrupy pancake was just too much for him to handle.

"Wha-k-t's his problem?" Guyunis belched.

"Daddy?" Eshal, who looked a bit perturbed, said.

"Angel," TazirVile said after finally getting himself together. "How long has Hazaar been doing that—" he gestured at his son's plate, "—with his fried eggs and pancakes?"

"The egg over the pancake routine?" Angel asked. Before she could answer his question, Hazaar spoke up.

"Man, what the fuck? Now you two are going to nark on me about how I eat my eggs and pancakes?" Hazaar snapped. "I've been doin' this since I was five hundred and forty-six years old; momma's fine with it."

He told himself that it was either his morning fatigue or the Temperamental phase, which both he and Lazeer were experiencing, that was being expressed. Unlike the rest of his children, Hazaar's conception wasn't by natural means. Angel used a vial of his semen, and a turkey baster, to get pregnant with him—while the baster was retrieved from one of the mansion's cabinets, the vial of sperm came from the Sperm Ward, which was one of the most secured buildings on Gamma Vile. The reason behind this odd conception was very simple: after Lhaklar's birth, Vile placed a curse on Angel that prevented her from having any further children by him. While a child would of been conceived, it would of been lost via miscarriage. Angel and he were very careful in their sexual antics after Lhaklar was born; a condom, or the pill, was utilized to prevent a pregnancy and a subsequent miscarriage. After four hundred years, Angel got it in her head about seducing her father into taking the curse from her. She got him to meet her at a restaurant then she poured on the charm; not long after the curse was removed, she went to the Sperm Ward for five vials of his sperm. She was discovered as being pregnant two weeks later.

After finding her as being with child, he asked her about her activities—at the time of their son's conception, he wasn't at home. He automatically suspected that she did something behind his back. Instead of getting anxious, or angry with him over his thinking that she fooled around on him, she remained calm. She told him what she did and he, in response, became ecstatic over finally being able to have more children with her.

Hazaar, despite his odd conception, looked to of inherited some of his... characteristics and mannerisms. He was a well-known grump during the early morning hours—his staff sometimes found themselves as having to tip-toe around him for the first hour to two hours after he woke up—and it looked like this was passed down to his son, who was also a grump during the early morning hours. Now he had the old egg-over-the-pancake routine to add to his slowly coming along list of son-inherited characteristics and mannerisms.

The reason behind his laughing at his son's habit of flipping his fried egg onto his pancake was really quite simple: he did that as well. He, at seven hundred and five years of age, had started doing this; his mother and sister were grossed out by it while his father wasn't fazed at all. His father had simply said that he was _eating like a man_. He was surprised over seeing that Eshal was reacting to how Hazaar flipped his fried egg onto his pancake—she, from time to time, had caught him doing the same thing.

"I see nothing wrong in you doing it either." he said after letting his son cool down some. "I do that as well. You get that from me."

"Like father, like son." Bile said.

"So, today's a Sunday, what're the plans for everyone today?" Angel asked after complete silence fell over the table.

"Babysit Guyunis." Bile said. Guyunis, who, TazirVile was quick to note, seemed to be a bit more livelier that morning, knocked his elbow into Bile's ribs.

"I don-k-t need a babysitter." Guyunis scoffed.

"Sure you do. Just the same as you need someone to hold your hand when you're crossing the—" another elbow was thrown into Bile's ribs; a mild, push and shove fight started between the two boys that was quickly stopped by their mother.

"Go wherever he goes." Guyunis said after being told to stop pushing his brother.

"Go into town." Hazaar said. "Them things that I have on my list won't be buying themselves."

"Same as the Hot-Head." Lazeer said. Hazaar was quick to knock him from his chair.

"Don't call me a Hot-Head." Hazaar said after knocking his brother from his chair.

"How about a Bully then?" Lazeer's left, black shoe, that had a single, red zig-zag on the side, was suddenly hocked into his brother's leg. Hazaar yelled, then dive-bombed on his brother. Like with the prior fight, Angel put a stop to this one before it went too far.

"Anymore and you two won't be leaving the house." Angel said. She then turned her attention to Lhaklar. "What's on your agenda for today, Lhakie?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to take an hour or two nap before heading out." Lhaklar said, he then looked at his sister. "And I'd like to take Eshal with me."

Eshal looked at the older of her biological half-brother's in mild shock. While she didn't mind going anywhere with him, she would like to know where he was taking her and, furthermore, what all was in store after they reached their destination. She wasn't allowed to voice this; her father spoke before she could.

"Where are you planning on taking your sister, Lhaklar?" her father asked her brother.

"To Au am Rhein—it's about five minutes from here. My buddy said that he'd collect a few of the people that I hung out with nearly a month ago; we're to meet-up at one of the small stores in town." Lhaklar replied.

"Is there a reason behind Eshal going with you?" TazirVile, who felt that there was more than just plain "meeting up" involved in the thing that his son wanted his sister to be apart of.

"Yeah, she's to apologize for barging in on me and my friends when we were swimming in the Scheidgraben."

"Thanks but no thanks. I'll stay here." Eshal said quickly.

"I insist. Thanks to you and them other girls busting in on me and my friends, I lost nearly everyone that I hang out with. Only one of my friends has remained a friend of mine; I haven't heard a thing from Seth or Jarvis or—"

"So, I didn't "barge" in on you and your loser friends without a good reason anyways."

"Eshal!" TazirVile gasped. Never had he heard such wording from her in a sentence before.

"I thought you and your friends made-up some time ago, Lhaklar." Angel, who was quiet all throughout the exchange of words that were made between her secondborn son and adopted daughter, said.

"Hell no, mom. I've left them be for a while, just as you suggested in April, and I've tried calling them and Astor has also tried talking to them. So far, no stick."

"Watch your language." TazirVile said quickly.

"You think you'd get your friends back if Eshal tagged along to personally apologize to them?" Angel asked.

"With her poppin' in like she did—" Lhaklar started to say.

"I didn't "pop in" without—" Eshal said defensively.

"—then causing my friends to run off, saying things like 'have fun with your girlfriend', 'what're you, alien magnets or something', and 'maybe we should reconsider our friendship', yes, I think she should." Lhaklar finished.

The decision was made on part of both Angel and TazirVile. To put to bed the "issue" that their two children had between themselves, they decided to have Eshal go with Lhaklar. TazirVile was firm in telling his son to be nice and presentable with his sister and he was also firm on him returning Eshal to the residence after the meet-up and apologizing was done. Eshal made a pout-like face, then went back to her breakfast. With all of what they had planned to do that day on the table, no further conversation was done. They just ate their breakfast, then quick-washed their dishes, then got ready for what they were planning on doing that day. Angel, who didn't have to go to work, stayed at home. With the exception of Lhaklar, who went up to take his nap, and Eshal, who went to her bedroom to write in her diary, and use her cellular, all of her sons left the house.


	5. Chapter 5

While standing where she was, Eshal thought that the calls, that she and her father heard last night, must of been heard by Lhaklar too. She couldn't come up with a better explanation for why her brother's intended hour to two hour nap became a four hour one other than he both hearing and being kept up by them. Even though she was given an extra two hours before he took her to the town of Au am Rhein, she didn't throw it all away on doing piddly things or by doing nothing. She used her time wisely to get ready for the task that he wanted her to do.

"Daddy said nothing on the day that we began our new, six-month stay here about me not being allowed to use my cellular." she remembered thinking while entering the room that she was to sleep and somewhat live in for the next half-year.

The same went on his not saying that she couldn't call or send texts to certain individuals that were in her family. While Lhaklar napped, she used her phone to text her grandmother and her oldest daughter; along with doing a little complaining to the two women, she told them what her brother wanted her to do. Her gramma was half-agreeing with her brother; in her follow-up text, she said that she should try to make amends for any friendship qualms that she either knowingly or unknowingly caused. Her gramma also said that Lhaklar should know better than to pin the blame on her for what happened on the eighth of April.

Instead of putting on a face, her grandmother was honest with her. She said that she was half-right in teleporting to the side of the river that her brother was on and in confronting her brother, and Guyunis; she also said that she was thinking, and worrying, about the protection of one of her own. Even though she said that, and that she was proud of her for being the protective, big sis that she knew she was, she still chided her for doing something that could of gotten her hurt. She read her gramma's text, then sent one back, then sent her aunt one.

Her aunt hadn't really said much on the issue. She just said for her to be careful and to do her best to not get into trouble. Aunt Qeeta also said for her to tell her mother and brothers hi for her—she had plans to do this in the next few hours.

Lhaklar got up from his nap at ten past ten. After going downstairs for around five minutes, he came up then asked if she was ready to go. Though wanting to shake her head, then go and hide behind daddy, she was mature. She nodded her head then said _let's go_. They left the house, then teleported to the location where her brother's friends were said to be waiting for them, right after she said that.

"Thought you said your friends were going to meet you somewhere?" Eshal asked. It was going on five minutes since they appeared in Au am Rhein; after teleporting to the town, she found herself as following her brother. He led her on for nearly three minutes before stopping at a small magazine shop. With the exception of the humans, who were walking around, minding their own business, she saw no one who looked to be waiting or expecting for another to meet them.

"Give 'em a few minutes." Lhaklar said—even though she loved him, she was freaked out by how "old" his voice sounded. When they were kids, he had a squeaky-like voice. He now had a low voice that, while not as deep as Bile's, was still deep. While not as strong, or powerful, as Bile's, her brother's voice was still powerful and strong in its own right. "I called Astor before we left; he said that it might take five to ten minutes before they get here."

"Then why don't we go... home and wait until that time's up?" she asked.

"Afraid of a little cold nip?" Lhaklar asked her.

"No."

"Or of the humans walking by you?"

"No."

"Why're you suggesting that we head home, and wait out the five to ten minutes there, if you're not afraid of getting a little cold, or of the humans?"

She gave her brother a little sniff then turned to face the road. While watching for one who looked to be looking for another, she thought about her present situation—even though this wasn't the first time that she was out on a town or city, it was the first time that she was out in one of them locations without having an adult accompanying her. Her father, when he learned that she wanted to go somewhere that was either close or a distance from home, usually appointed one of his staff to go with her; if she was with one or more of her friends, and they decided to spend some time in an agreed upon city or town, he'd ask for one of the parents of her friends to accompany them.

There was no adult with her here. Her only company was her brother—and she was phenomenally shocked over this! During breakfast, she had figured that her father would say no to Lhaklar going anywhere without having an adult with him and to his taking her with him; her father surprised her by not only having a talk with her mother on the issue but by agreeing to have her go with Lhaklar to Au am Rhein. Even though Lhaklar agreed to their father's firm instruction in having her back to their temporary residence after the apologizing was done, she was wondering if he would do so.

Her brothers—all of them, not just Lhaklar—had been acting a bit "roguish" or uncontrollable ever since their discovery nearly two years ago. Observation from the last two weeks and four days had shown her how "uncontrollable" or non-behaving they were in accord to their father. Her brothers regarded and behaved for their mother very well; they were just the opposite with their father. She wondered how much longer her father would allow that to happen. Her father, though patient and understanding, did have buttons that could be pressed. He wasn't as patient as Grampa Cheshire; he'd be at her brothers and fast if they continued to misbehave around him. At most, he might allow them a three-strike system; if they continued to misbehave after them three strikes were given, they would probably get a punishment of some sort.

A prime example of how her father was when it came to how patient and understanding he was with his young was shown three weeks and five days ago—she was grounded for entering the shield and then approaching Guyunis. Her father gave her ample warning to steer clear of anyone, and anything, that could do her harm more than once before Guyunis's association with her family was noted; she had, sadly, pushed the envelope too far in going into the shield and then confronting Guyunis on that day and she was punished for it.

"Ah, there they are!" her brother said. When he started going towards a vehicle, that looked to be pulling over to their side of the road, she grabbed him by the arm that was both broken and in a splint. The vehicle, that pulled up, then parked by them, was a beet-red color; it had a long hood, a short-looking trunk, and a tail-fin on the back. Lhaklar made a sound akin to that of a hiss and a growl then turned towards her after her hand was on his arm. She, who knew her mistake well, was given a firm shove back. "Watch my arm!"

"Sorry," she said after recovering from being shoved against the magazine shop that they were standing before. She then started blubbering. "I didn't mean to... I forgot... I was only trying to stop you from getting hit by that car!"

"Hey you old, green fucker! Either you've gotten too big for your skin, and need a few pegs kicked out from under you, or we need to take to our heels and fast."

She came close to grabbing her cellular then calling her father. The human had said a word that her father would greatly frown at the use of. Her father had given her The Talk a long time ago about the usage of such words. They were uncouth words that were best to be left alone; it was only when she reached the age of adulthood that she was allowed to use them and, even then, she wasn't to use the large scope ones—like the one that the human just said.

The human, that approached her brother, was the same one that she saw on the day that she saw Lhaklar with Guyunis... and the day that she, Uevaa, Fleebe, Kaasa, and Blaiga saw them skinny dipping. The human was of the male gender. He was wearing a pair of badly torn blue jeans, that had a brown belt around the waist; a white muscle shirt, that was lacking its lower section; and black ankle boots, that had detachable chains and buckles on their sides. He had a lot of muscle on his arms, chest, and stomach. His reddish-blond hair was mid-long, ruffled, and messy looking. His eyes were a dull green color. The human, and her brother, grasped then shook hands; she watched as the two did a single chest-bump—something that one of the male gender did that she didn't understand—before turning to look at the vehicle that was parked before the store that she, her brother, and the human were standing before.

"Now that you're out of your winter woolies, I can see that you've done a good firming up of them arms of yours." the human said to her brother. "Firming up to kick the old man out, or just looking to impress the ladies?"

"Both," her brother replied. She couldn't help but gasp at what he said. Kick their father from the house, and impress the ladies? Had she heard correctly; was that the reason for why her brother's arms had gotten bigger these past two and a half weeks?

"Be warned, them old types are hard to fell. I just got through kicking mine to the curb last week. It was sho' hard to do, but he got the point." the human was saying.

"Mustn't of been that hard for you. I see no bruises or nicks or cuts on you." her brother returned.

"Man, he didn't have so much as a chance to lay hand on me. It was mostly me throwing the punches and him running or ducking. I threw him a few dresses afterwards; enjoy womanhood, you old fuck, that's what I told him after throwing him from the house." the human said.

"Don't believe a word of what my cockamamie bruder just said. Our dat's still under the same roof as us and our mum." a tough, feminine voice said from within the vehicle.

"Pack 'em in like sardines, or was you only able to bring your sister?" Lhaklar asked. Now he sounded serious.

"All but my previous two girlfriends are inside my Merc." the human said, he then turned around. He spoke to the vehicle that was parked nearby loudly and clearly. "Alright you slow fucks, it's time to vacate my car."

The car had a very surprising amount of people in it. In all, five were in it; the bulk of them passengers were getting out now.

The first was of the male gender. He was just as big as the one that her brother just spoke with. He stood five foot, ten inches—the same as the one who had the reddish-blond hair—and he had curly, brown hair and brown eyes. The nose, that was on his deeply tanned face, was hooked. He was wearing a pair of black jeans, a white t-shirt, and greenish-black tennis shoes; there was a watch on his left wrist that had a black band on it.

Another male got out next. Like with the other two, he was big and burly. He had long, dirty-blond hair. From her distance, it looked like he had a tired look in his brown eyes. He was wearing a pair of dirt-encrusted blue jeans, a green muscle shirt, black boots, and a thin, jean jacket.

Quite surprisingly, the ones who got out next were girls. The first was five foot, five inches tall; she had ash-brown hair and rather pretty, amber-colored eyes—which stood out well in her oval-shaped face. Even from where she stood, she could see that she had a good splash of freckles going across her nose, which was quite small. Her cheeks were like the rest of her—very nicely tanned. She had small, but quite perky, breasts. Her hips were like the rest of her—petite. This girl wrapped one of her arms around the waist of the dirty-blond haired boy soon after exiting the car.

While the second girl was also pretty, she was taller than the first by three and a half inches. She was both petite and had a good length of leg on her—she did think that her breasts were a bit too big on her. This girl had long, curly black hair and blue eyes. While the ash-brown haired girl was wearing a short, jean skirt, a purple blouse, and black heels, the black-haired girl was wearing skin-tight leggings, a blue woman's muscle shirt, and white tennis shoes.

"Lhaklar, My Pet, it's been a while." the black-haired girl said to her brother.

"Indeed, it has." Lhaklar said.

"Had to throw a rope around Seth and Jarvis—they didn't want to stop acting like bulls. Had to do a special wrangling session on them." the reddish-blond haired boy said to her brother. "Had to also drag my sister to my car—ever hear a girl squeal, Lhaklar? Thought my ears were going to fall off after I grabbed her by her hair."

"Yeah, a birdie told us that one of our "former" gang wanted to speak with us. While we're still miffed over what happened last month, we're willing to hear what you have to say." the curly, brown-haired boy said.

"The brand on my ass still hurts." the dirty-blond haired boy said in a tired sort of way.

Lhaklar looked at his sister; there was really no better time than now for her to step forward to apologize for barging in on his and his friends' time at Scheidgraben. Eshal looked at him almost at once—it took him a lot to not say how "young" she looked in the eyes. His sister looked miserable, and it looked like she didn't want to do as he wanted her to. Eshal had embarrassed him on that April eighth day and she also caused him to lose all but one of his friends; if he was to regain his friends, and if she was to gain a little trust in him, she had to do as he wanted her to. There was normal sibling embarrassment and there was the uncalled for bullshit that siblings shouldn't do—like showing up at certain water sources where one of their own was at with some of their friends, for example.

To move things forward a little quicker, and to lift the seemingly dark cloud of tension that fell over him and his group, he started introducing everyone—maybe if Eshal knew who she was apologizing to, she wouldn't be but so nervous, or reluctant, to speak.

"You fools met her on the eighth of April," he started, he gestured at his sister. "This is Eshal, my older sister."

"Charmed."

"Eshal, the one who spoke first is Ada Bonnaire." Lhaklar said. Eshal nodded at the curly, black-haired girl; the girl returned the nod.

"Hello,"

"And the second willing participant of today's introductions is Ivonne Angerer." Lhaklar said. Eshal nodded her head at the ash-brown haired girl, who merely smiled at her.

"You owe me five euros for the peep show that you and them other gals saw."

"And the third to be introduced to you, my dear sister, is Seth Horowitz." Lhaklar sang. Eshal couldn't help but blush at the boy who had curly, brown hair. The boy responded to her blush by looking at the sky.

"Think she's in love with you, Seth. Time to find the wedding ring and the venue for the ceremony to take place in."

"And this is Astor Bonnaire—he's Ada's older brother." Lhaklar said of the reddish-blond haired boy.

"Hey,"

"And the last to cross the finish line is Jarvis Adlersflügel." Lhaklar said. The boy who had the tired look in his brown eyes simply nodded at her; she nodded back.

"And I'm quite surprised at that. Jarvis is usually right up there with the front-runners." the one named Seth said.

"Can't run well on an empty stomach. My wrangler decided to skip-out on feeding me my breakfast this mornin'." Jarvis said.

"Ass-branding calls for breakfast skipping." Astor said.

After giving her brother another look, Eshal stepped forward to do as she was there to do. It wasn't as hard as she thought it'd be—while the first few words nearly overlapped one another, the rest came out clearly; towards the end of her given apology, she added a touch of honestly towards the actions that she did on that day,

After it was out, she stepped back then waited. She was very aware of what was to happen after she was returned to the house that her family was staying in—her parents would be approached, then her grandmother would be called; she'd voice her opinion on what she thought of her brother's friends to all of them. Even though her brother needed friends, she was surprised over the ones that he had—when he was a kid, Lhaklar had more composed friends while, as a teenager, he had more... mouthy and "dirty" friends who weren't as composed. She found herself as not liking Ada right away. The girl started mouthing off, and causing a bit of trouble between herself, the human named Ivonne Angerer, and her brother right after she apologized for what happened on the eighth of April. She figured that Ivonne was one of them non-confrontational people; it was obvious that Astor, Seth, and Jarvis were jocks—this was a crowd that she had definitely not expected her baby brother to befriend or hang around with.

Instead of taking her back to the house after the apology was done, Lhaklar turned then went into the magazine shop. His friends followed him, as did she. While she didn't hug up against him, she did stay near him.

"That it? Are they your friends again, or did they just... decide to mull it over a while before... you know." she asked after there were four aisles between her, her brother, and his friends.

"The test will come in a few minutes." Lhaklar replied. "After I return you home, that is."

"Looking or buying?" Eshal asked after her brother took a magazine, that had the words In-Fisherman on the front in big, white letters, from the aisle's shelf.

"Buying—t'is the time of the month to do my monthly magazine re-stocking." her brother answered.

Lhaklar got In-Fisherman, Sport Fishing, Field and Stream, Fly Fishin' and Bassin', Ducks Unlimited, Predator Xtreme, Turkey Country, and a magazine that she was quick to gasp at. She tried her best to prevent him from getting this one, particular magazine; their father wouldn't be pleased over hearing or seeing him looking at or reading material that was pornographic. He would be adamant on his steering clear of such material. Lhaklar purchased the magazine, regardless of her attempts to stop him from doing so.

"We all done here?" Astor asked after they regrouped by the shop's front. "All of our magazine fetishes purchased? All shopping for girlfriends done?"

"Yep. Got me a nice blonde coming to pay me a visit at one o'clock." Lhaklar said.

"Lhaklar!" Eshal exclaimed. She fought the urge to throw her hands to her face.

"Got me a gal named Fritzi to pay homage to in forty-five minutes." Seth said.

"No girlfriend shopping done by me but, while I was browsing for my usual mags, I was able to get Ivonne to agree to lather the brand that's on my ass in fifteen minutes." Jarvis said.

"Let me take her home," Lhaklar, who was fighting the chuckles, said. "The "old man" said for her to be home after everything between us was squared away."

"If, in five minutes, you've not returned, we leave without ya." Seth flashed an evil smile.

"I'll be sure to be back before that time's up." Lhaklar said.

As Lhaklar took their sister home, then went to spend some time with his friends, and as Eshal went to tell their parents all of what came from their brother's mouth, he and Guyunis were standing by one of Amsterdam's Cannabis coffee shops.

With all of what was going on at home, and with it raining almost nonstop for the last few days, this was the only time that he could come here. Instead of coming here for the girls, or to take in the sights, or to shop, he came here for one thing and one thing only—to do a restock on his smoke. With Amsterdam being the Cannabis Capital of the Planet, he was in the right place to do this. Like his siblings, he received his allowance yesterday but didn't go out to spend it right away; instead, he pocketed it then went to see what Guyunis was doing. At the time, getting his pot wasn't tops on his list of things to do. Seeing as the mood for today was a little better, and that Guyunis was a little more livelier than yesterday, he decided to both go to the city and take him with him.

This was, essentially, the first day in over two weeks that Guyunis had left the house. He hoped that this was a sign of his brother finally settling down and returning to being like his old self again. In a lot of ways, he missed the old, tough, non-clingy Guyunis.

The two of them appeared in the city twenty minutes ago. With the matter of spending some time with Angus and Aubin squared away, he decided to make the trip and then look for a human who would help him in getting some pot. Right after reaching the stretch of sidewalk where the Cannabis coffee shops were, then starting in on looking for said human, he started thinking about the city's rich history.

"According to the pamphlets, that are in several conveniently placed locations along the walkway, it started out as a small fishing village in the 12th century."

Along with being quite old, it got its name from the Amstel river, which it was located at the mouth of. There were about eight districts in the city, and the population was currently under a million—in stark contrast, it was 3,500,990 in 2013. Due to all the natural disasters and plagues that occurred over the last few thousands years, the population had come under threat. While this information was relatively new to him, the one on it being a Free-For-All place by the humans, and on it being known for its Cannabis coffee shops, wasn't. While pot was very legal to use now, Amsterdam was the only place where you could smoke it in a private and public setting—in the Cannabis coffee shops, you could come in, take a seat, order something, then take out a joint or pipe without hearing someone gasp or telling you that you're going to get in trouble for what you're doing. Due to the air in the shops being so thick in Cannabis smoke, one didn't necessarily have to bring something to smoke in the establishment—a contact high could be gotten from just sitting in them.

It was this knowledge and this knowledge alone that brought him here in the first place.

"But I learned very quickly that one has to be a resident of the city to be allowed to purchase the shops' pot." Bile thought while sustaining the urge to lean against the building that he and Guyunis were standing before.

While there were some dumb humans on the planet, the ones here weren't dumb by any means. They knew that he wasn't a local of the area; due to this, he had found himself as having to rely on waiting outside of the shops for a human to leave. Once one did, he'd go up to ask if they'd be so kind as to go back in and then buy him some of what was available. If one of the humans went through in doing so, he'd both thank and then pay him, or her, back for their services.

Most of the time, he relied on men to help him in aquiring what he wanted. On this morning, he found himself as having to rely on a little old lady to help him in getting some pot.

"What're you doing-k after this?" Guyunis asked.

"The usual—go to the dump then sift around. Find a few things that either I or the family will like... or that I can fix up and then sell." Bile replied.

"Cool."

"Going with, or planning on going home after we leave here?"

"Going with... for a while, at leas-k-t." Guyunis replied. "Go-k-t plans to... you know... shop in town."

"You going to return home if I let you run off on your own?" Bile asked.

"Where else would I g-k-o?" Guyunis counter-asked.

While the doubt was there, he still worried that Guyunis might run away from home. That or just stay away because of the old man and Eshal being there. He was slightly nervous about Guyunis's plan; his mother would flip if he didn't come home, and he would probably have a good, red backside if he ran away. Even though Guyunis wasn't of blood-birth relation to him, he still loved him like a brother and he still worried about him.

While Guyunis had a right of both going out on his own, and getting his monthly magazines, smokes, models, and etc., he thought that it was too soon for him to be doing so. Too much had happened at home and too much stress had fallen on his shoulders.

He was about to ask Guyunis to not go off on his own when his connection left the shop that they were waiting by. He signaled her, then went to meet her. His connection was rail thin, had steel-gray hair, glassy green eyes, and had to be somewhere in her upper sixties to early seventies; she was quick in tossing him the bag that she bought and he was quick in repaying her for her services. They went on their way soon after the exchange was done. He pocketed the ounce of pot that he was given then he gestured for Guyunis to come to him. When he was at his side, he teleported them to the dump that was in the town of Durmersheim, Germany.

"You know the rules: if you come by any knives—" he started to say.

"Finders keepers," Guyunis smiled before going towards one of the dump's various piles of junk. "If I find any, I'm no-k-t telling or showing you them."

He stayed near his brother for all of fifteen minutes before "migrating" from him—but only on request, that was. Guyunis took his closeness, and his looking over his shoulder, in stride for all of ten minutes before getting anxious. He moved off to where two piles of stuff were about ten minutes in on their stay then, after five minutes went by, and he saw that he was still following him, he turned then said for him to take his "stalker" ass somewhere else. He chuckled, then moved off. While he kept his brother in his sights, he gave him the space that he both wanted and needed.

He found himself as being very surprised when he found a box that had two necklaces in it a few minutes after moving away from Guyunis. The box was old; while it belonged in a dump, its two necklaces didn't. One of the necklaces had a cheap, gold chain from which aqua, or blue-green, plastic pieces, that had many holes punched in them, hung from. The plastic pieces were bent or twisted in all sorts of ways; when he tested one of them, to see if it was strong or weak, he found that it was very strong. It didn't break or bend from its created shape. While the necklace looked cheap, it also looked unique; he decided to keep it—if his mother or sister didn't want it, he could sell it. The other necklace was one of them Chainmaille red scale collar types; he bet his mother would love it.

Over the years, he had learned that the humans were a most waster-some bunch. It didn't matter if it was in good shape, was still useful, or was recently purchased—they threw almost everything away. This didn't change now; soon after finding the necklaces, he came across a Chia pet that he bet his dinosaur-loving baby brother would like. While the seeds were gone, the piece could still be used as a decoration and, if he wasn't incorrect, it was based off the genetically created dinosaur that was depicted in the 2015 film, Jurassic World. After digging in a particularly smelly pile of junk, he came across a red and gold lariat necklace. He pocketed it then dug into the pile deeper. A red coral necklace, that was still on its card, was found soon after he took the plunge.

When a nearby rat caught his eye, he moved away from the pile that he found the two necklaces and Chia pet in. The rodents, that were commonly found in dumps, carried all sorts of diseases on or in them; they were also notoriously famous for being fierce biters. He didn't want to tangle with any of them.

He came across one of them cat crinkle tunnels soon after relocating from where he was. Not long after finding the tunnel, he found something that he bet his sister would like. Naturally, the two pillows would need to be cleaned, but they looked right up her alley. They were made out of a reversible matte sequin material; one was blue, while the other was silver. After coming across the pillows, he decided to put a halt to what he was doing. The smell was starting to get to him, and he knew that he was going to need a shower after returning home—taking the "plunge" in that one pile had cost him dearly, but he was glad that he did it.

"Hey! Guyunis! Time to regroup and then leave this place." he yelled after spell-sending all of what he found home.

Guyunis must of found a good spot to sift through—when he showed up, he had an armful and a half of stuff on him. After leaving the dump, they went to a nearby park; Guyunis was a sport in showing him what he found after they got there.

"Dude! Seriously? Someone threw _that_ out?" he exclaimed after the long, red-brown leather jacket, that had a light brown, fake-fur collar, was shown to him.

"Tha-k-t's what I said when I found it." Guyunis said.

"This is a rather expensive jacket and it's in great condition," he said in awe. "For ma?"

"Yeah,"

Guyunis had also come across a green dress that had an irregular hemline, a bound waist, and short sleeves. The pair of black leather covered shoes, that had low heels on them, were nice; he came close to spitting after the gold plated, twisted alloy china bracelet and the vintage, red ruby rhinestone bracelet were shown to him. Naturally, the spring-like, door hanging cat toy was for his brother's cat. He wasn't sure on what his brother was planning on doing with the wine bottle holder that was intricately designed to look like an Elephant; the same went with the glass orb that had a bubble-encased, pink opaque feathery wave interior—Guyunis never said what he was intending to do with them, even though he asked him. The four shirts—all blouses, but one being dark red, and having half-sleeves; another being a normal, green color; another having long sleeves, and being a red and pink, tie-dye color; and the final being blue and having short sleeves and embellished shoulders—were for their mother.

His brother said nothing on finding any knives. Either he didn't come by any or he already sent what he found in that area home.

"Good, damn, finds, man!" he said after all of what his brother found was spell-sent home. After everything was sent home, he said, "Found a cat tunnel earlier. All I have to do is clean it before giving it to you."

"Sabine will be purrin-k-g and loving you all over after i-k-t's given to her." Guyunis said.

"Yuck, tell your damn cat that I'm not available."

"Maybe the tunnel, and the toy that I found for her, will stop her from meowing and scra-k-tching at my door for a while." Guyunis said. "Been havin' to, you know, do a spell to hide her scra-k-tch marks."

"Leave your room open. Let her roam around. I don't think—"

"With tha-k-t man and girlie in the house? I don't think so, Bile." Guyunis said sharply.

As Bile was giving their brother a long face, he was entering the house that they, and most of their family, started calling home nine months ago. While he was able to get what he needed for his pets, and do a little shopping for himself, he wasn't able to spell-send it home. Instead of remembering the words to the spell that'd send his purchases home, he forgot them; this caused him to go through his resident town's community center, and then teleport home, with all of his purchases being on his person.

It was a struggle to get into the house, and then to go down the hallway that came off the foyer, and then to go down the hallway that led to the stairs. Once before the stairs, he stopped to both catch his breath and to balance what he had in his arms.

Either it was fate, or his luck ran out, because, when he went to balance what he was holding, most of it fell to the floor.

"Shit!" Lazeer cursed after hearing the noise of his purchases colliding with the floor.

He cringed after the house became quiet around him then looked down. Thoughts of what would happen if the floor was coated in calcium dust, or if the box of crickets, or containers of wax worms and dubia roaches, broke open and their bugs started relishing in their newly given freedom, or if the small jars of model paint broke and then splashed their contents on the floor and walls, occurred after he turned his gaze to what fell. His mother would of had a cow if any of that happened, and his pets would be waving bye-bye too—like Hazaar, he was given The Talk on what'd happen if anything that revolved around his pet-keeping hobby was seen moving about on the carpets, floors, curtains, etc. He was allowed to bring home and then keep his frogs and salamanders, and he was allowed to buy the things that went along with their care, but he wasn't allowed to let his hobby, or the things that went along with it, "migrate" from his room.

Luckily, his cringe wasn't followed up with the stress of having to clean the floor of the mess that escaped the boxes, containers, and jars. The box of crickets, the containers of wax worms and dubia roaches, the container of calcium dust, and the paint bottles didn't break. None of his pictured worries was happening; once he realized that everything was fine, he sighed then went to begin the process of collecting the things that fell.

The magazines, which weren't dropped, were placed to the side. The same went with the two models—one of a skeletal representation of a Futabasaurus while the other being of an Allosaurus attacking a Kentrosaurus—and the packet of moist bits. He did his best to balance the stack of items that fell then he went to put the items that didn't fall on top of them.

"Going up the stairs with all of this is going to be hard..." he thought after finishing the stacking of his purchases.

Yes, but it had to be done. Unless by some miracle the words to that spell came to him, he had no other way of getting his purchases to his room. If the words to that spell were remembered, he'd not have to worry about what would fall while he ascended the stairs, or how he'd balance everything so nothing would fall. Alas, though, the words never came to him after the stacking was complete; this meant one thing and one thing only.

He'd have to go up to his bedroom the traditional way, and he'd have to run the risk of everything falling on him in the proc—

"Need help?"

He jumped after hearing the gravelly-sounding voice that belonged to his father. Even though he knew the man was in the building, he didn't hear him after coming into the house. The house was quiet. His mother was probably in the basement, doing laundry, and his father... well, he knew that he was somewhere in the house. The living room, perhaps. Or maybe the dining room.

He turned after hearing his father then did the only thing that he could think of doing—he had a lot to take upstairs; unless he wanted to run the chance of it falling on him while he ascended the stairs, he'd have to run the "risk" of making a double trip to take it all up to his room... er, unless he had someone to help him in taking it up, of course. He nodded his head, then collected what he was able to collect, then went up the stairs. His father collected what he left behind then followed him.

"How much does your mother give you in an allowance each month?" his father asked after they exited the stairs.

"Fifty euros," he replied—his voice came out as it usually did: gruff and hoarse-like.

"All of this cost you fifty euros?" his father, who sounded non-believing, asked.

"Had some money left-over from last month's allowance." he lied. In all actuality, he "stole" the two models, the box of model paints, and three of the magazines that he came home with. He used his allowance on the rest of what he had. He was nearly broke now.

The idea of telling his father to just "drop" what he had in his arms by his bedroom door came to him for only a second before he discarded it. How rude would that be? The son told the father, who took time out from whatever the hell he was doing to help him take certain items up to his bedroom, to leave all of what he helped to bring up the stairs by his bedroom door and then scram. He bet his mother would shake her head at him if he said that and he bet he'd also get a good lecture from the old man on how one of his age should respect their elders.

He was to "move in" with this man in six months time... he figured that, if any amount of trust was to be sparked between the two of them, it should be now instead of later.

"This is _your_ room?" his father said after he opened his bedroom door then went in. His father took one step in then stopped to gawk at what he was seeing.

The first thing that ran through his head, after he went into the room, was that it either belonged to a kid-kid or to someone who was the younger of his siblings. With his son being the latter of them two things, he automatically pinned that to the reason for why the room looked the way it did.

While he felt ashamed of himself for not knowing his youngest son as well as he did, he didn't beat himself up too much about it. Lazeer was a four-month old baby when the threat was made. Angel only whisked the boys away as a way to keep herself with them; her intentions in leaving with them weren't bad. During the latter part of the year 4099, when Lazeer was living on Moas, he had picked up or noticed a few things that he liked doing—building model representations of prehistoric reptiles, aircrafts, and boats were some of those things.

After stepping into the room, he found himself as having to both duck and dodge to the left—there were five models hanging from the ceiling. It looked like all of them had a piece of twine wound around their middles and it also looked like one of their ends was stuck or glued to the ceiling. The model that he ducked and then dodged was painted a plain camouflage color; it looked like a representation of a Ferumble Doc. 2—an aircraft that was used by the people who roamed the planet Ferumbeia, which went up in a plume of space dust a million to a million and a half years ago. The humans, that were on the side of the planet that he and his family were on, had used a craft like that of the model that was hanging from the room's ceiling in the second World War—they called it a German JU-88G-6.

The model that his head came close to hitting was just a foot from the Ferumble Doc. 2-like model representation. This model, which was of a 172 Arado Ar555 German Jet Bomber, was given a nice, white-leopard paint job. The 172 Arado Ar555 German Jet Bomber was a craft that only the humans made; from what the book that he read some five hundred ago said, the plane was never flown. A small-scale model was made, then an actual plane was made, then plans for the plane's actual development were made and proposed; while the humans were interested in the plane, none were manufactured or even test-driven or used in battle. The plane's plans, like so many others that were either too expensive, couldn't be figured out, or were discarded, had just collected dust.

A model of a skeletal Pterodactyl, one of the planet's former flying creatures that died out after an asteroid struck the planet over sixty-five million years ago, hung from the ceiling two feet from where the model planes were. He gave it a good looking-over before moving on to the one that hung near it.

"Lazeer, you know what this odd-looking model is?" he asked his son.

"Yeah, that's a Pterodactyl flying-wing aircraft." Lazeer, who was currently placing the items that he brought up to his room on his bed, answered.

"A what?"

"A plane that was developed by a man named Geoffrey T. R. Hill. The one that you're looking at was nothing more than an experimental, tailless plane."

"You paint it naturally, or did you decide to use nothing but silver paint on it?" he asked. He was intrigued by what he just heard and, furthermore, by what he was seeing. The model, that he was looking at, looked like a seagull and, like his son had said, it had no tail on it.

"Decided to be simple in painting it. Not many photographs exist of the Pterodactyl's, and not many know what colors they were painted." his son replied.

The model that was beside the Pterodactyl flying-wing aircraft was no other than a representation of a Glyunsia Mock-12. He had always been intrigued by this type of war-plane! They were fast and deadly. The model, that he was looking at, was a mostly mold-green color; a pair of angry eyes, and a shark's mouth, were painted on the craft's front and a yellow, five-point star, that had a black circle surrounding it, was painted on both of its sides. He looked at this model for a decent amount of time before asking his son what the humans called it—his son claimed that they called it a Flying Tiger shark mouth P-40; he also said that they were used in the second World War.

"Know anything about the Nydonia Galaxy, or the Glyunsia Mock-12?" he asked his son, who was now taking the items that he carried up to his room from his arms.

"Not really." Lazeer replied. He then said, "I take it that the planet Glyunsia is in that galaxy, and that the plane was or is made there?"

He snickered—while his son was incorrect on the planet's name, he wasn't about to get all on his case about it. The Nydonia Galaxy was a horseshoe-shaped galaxy about twelve galaxies from the M-51 Galaxy; a man by the name of Araloborg Evoniflaan was its conqueror and ruler. Araloborg had personally taken several fleets of Glyunsia Mock-12's down while being on the planet Goosleon before declaring the planet his. Them fleets had done a lot of damage to both Araloborg's troops and to Araloborg Evoniflaan; the man came very close to needing his left arm amputated because of them—they just tore it to pieces! Mr. Evoniflaan had a lot to owe to the team of doctors who were charged with his care.

Araloborg Evoniflaan had incorporated around a thousand of the planes that were responsible for his nearly having his arm amputated into his military soon after the Nydonia Galaxy fell to him. The galaxy that he set his sights on next fell rather quickly, thanks to the use of them planes.

He told his son this then moved on. Once the items, that he helped his son take up to his room, were removed from his arms, he got serious in looking the room that he was in over.

"Big enough for one... which is appropriate, considering the fact that he's a mid-teenager and only needs a bed big enough for just himself. " he thought after looking at the bed, that was against the room's left-side wall.

The bed had an oak camouflage comforter, and matching sheets, on it. There looked to be a plain, dark green fleece blanket between the comforter and sheets. The three pillows, that were on it, had matching, oak camouflage cases on them.

Beside the bed sat a distressed wooden side table. A weird, robot-like alarm clock was standing just before the table's lamp, which had a base that had all sorts of figurines—a quick look told him that they were a mixture of Stegosaur's, Velociraptor's, Tyrannosaurus Rex's, and Triceratops's—on it. The lamp had a dark yellow shade on it, which he thought went very well with the piece.

"You have a rather interesting rug here, son." he said after noticing the black and white, optical illusion-like rug that was beside the bed.

"Careful—it has a way of making one who stares for too long to have a headache." his son, who had since gone into his closet, warned him.

Across from the foot of his son's bed, mounted on the wall, was a 30" flat screen tv. A stained oak hardwood dresser, that had six drawers on it, was both to the right of the room and in the top right corner. A white oak, three-legged corner desk was in the bottom right corner; the closet was between it, the dresser, and a bookcase—the latter being both 71" tall, royal cherry colored, and having five shelves on it. Before taking in the contents that were on the bookcase, he walked over then looked at what was by the foot of the bed. He had never seen such an item before. He was instantly captivated by its appearance.

"Lazeer, what is this?" he asked after staring at the canid-like thing that was by the foot of the bed.

"My Bat-eared fox."

He never, really, caught the full name of the animal; he was so captivated by the canid-like beast that only half of what his son said was heard. The animal, that he was looking at, had tawny-colored fur. It had large, black ears—a quick measuring told him that they were over five inches long. The parts of its pointed face were black; so were the legs. The animal was nearly twenty-two inches long; it stood about two feet up off the floor. He looked this animal over a few times before something else caught his eye.

His youngest son had two sets of antlers on the wall that the side of his bed was pushed up against. The first belonged to a species of Sable Antelope—along with being a dark tan color, they arched back and had many rings on them. The second belonged to a species of Eland—they were both V-shaped, light gray in color, and had three or four tight spirals to them. A soft, creamy-colored Fennec fox fur was tacked on the wall between the two sets of antlers. Even from where he stood, he knew that the antlers were of the fragile sort and that they were being well-cared for; he couldn't help but be proud of his boy over that.

A preserved Opossum, that was preserved with its legs sticking out from its body, and with its tail curved in a near question-mark, was dangling from a piece of driftwood that was mounted on the wall above the head of his son's bed. He looked at the animal for only a second before glancing at the bookcase that was beside the dresser.

"Did you collect all of these animals during your hunts, or come by them by pure chance when you were at the dump?" he asked as he looked at the items that were on the bookcase.

"All from my hunts," his son, who was now taking a big, plastic container from his closet, replied.

A small stereo, that's speakers were appropriately sized for it, was on the bookcase's first shelf. A bunch of music discs and magazines were on the same shelf.

To the far left of the bookcase's third shelf was a glass airplane lamp while, on the opposite side of the same shelf, was a flying saucer lamp. A preserved Egyptian Weasel—a nocturnal animal that had short legs, a broad snout and small ears on a small head, and a long, but thin, tail—was beside the airplane lamp. The animal had a mostly brown coat while its legs, ears, and stomach were a creamy color. The preserved specimen, that was beside the Egyptian Weasel, caught his eye rather quickly. He became a bat-fanatic in his mid-six hundreds; he had bats for pets and he also had a wide assortment of preserved bats in his hunting collection. The preserved bat, that was on the bookcase, was on a piece of mahogany wood; its wings and feet were pinned to the piece of wood perfectly. The bat's mouth was, most interestingly, open; the animal's sharp, little teeth, and tiny, pink tongue, could been seen. Naturally, the bat's wings were hairless; except for the tips, which were white, the fur, that was on the animal's stomach and back, was black—this white-tipped fur gave the animal an interesting, frosted or silver appearance.

"You've probably already figured that I'd ask this but, what's this bat called?" he asked. Lazeer had left the room with his plastic container; when he returned, with a seemingly clean container in his possession, he asked him his question.

"Silver-haired bat." his son replied quickly.

The animal, that was beside the preserved bat, was... quite odd in appearance. It looked like an Armadillo; along with having large, overlapping, plate-like scales on its back, sides, and tail, it had long claws on its front feet. The thirty-nine inch long animal was propped on a piece of driftwood; the end of its tail was set in a slightly curled fashion.

"What's this called?" he asked. He pointed at the Armadillo-like creature.

"Pangolin." his son replied.

He knew the name of only one of the two items that were on the next shelf. The Dik-dik—very particular name for an animal... very funny, yet also crude—was considered as being the planet's smallest known species of Antelope. It was sixteen inches tall and was anywhere between twenty and twenty-eight inches long; the animal had a gray-brown upper-body coat while its lower parts—the legs, belly, chest, and flanks—were tan. The preserved specimen had a bare, black spot below the inside corner of both of its dark eyes; its three-inch long horns were nearly hidden by an upright tuft of hair that looked similar to a mohawk. The tuft of hair was dark tan in color; the nearly concealed horns were dark gray and ribbed.

Two models, one of a Chinese Junk Pirate boat and the other of a nickel-silver rowing boat, that had a stainless steel armature oarsman in it, were between the preserved Dik-dik and a preserved lizard. The shelf's preserved lizard looked to have thick skin and a club-like tail that was both heavy, muscular, and spiny. The lizard was mostly yellow in color; its head, feet, and some of its tail were dark gray to black in color.

"My father would do more than stare at this if he saw it, son." he said before going on to looking at the items that were on the bookcase's last shelf.

"He can have a picture of my Egyptian Mastigure, but he can't have my trophy." his son, who had since emptied the cardboard box of its contents, replied.

Like the shelf above, the final shelf on the bookcase had two preserved animals on it. He knew the names of both animals right away. The first was none other than a preserved Nine-banded armadillo. The animal's back, sides, and tail had a covering of scaly plates or scutes on them; the plate-like scutes, that were on its shoulders and rump, were rather large. The underside of the animal was covered in tough skin, which had a layer of coarse hair over it. The claws, that came out of the animal's middle forefingers, were longer than the ones that were on its other fingers. The animal was standing on its hind legs; its front legs were hanging loosely in front of its chest, while its tail was pulled over to the right side of its body.

The preserved specimen of the stocky and low-slung bodied American Badger was a fine piece of work. The animal had short, powerful legs; its forelegs had huge claws on them, while the claws, that were on the back feet, were short. With the exception its head, the animal had a grizzled brown, black, and white coat of coarse hair or fur that almost gave it a mixed brown-tan appearance. The animal's triangular-shaped face had a distinctive black and white pattern to it; along with having dark stripes on its cheeks, it had a white stripe that ran from the base of its head on down to its nose.

"Guess I can accept his having a poster of this caliber." he thought after looking at the poster that was to the right of his son's closet. The poster had a very busty woman on it; she was wearing a very low-cut bikini top, a matching g-string, and a pair of high heels. The woman was sitting on the wing of an airplane that was flying above New York City; along with having a 1950's hair-style, her lips were all puckered up.

His son had one more poster in his room. Along with being on the back of his bedroom door, it had a Giant Squid on it... which was tearing a ship to pieces! He was in full approval of that poster; nothing out of the ordinary or inappropriate was happening in it at all. He was on his way over to look at the first of the room's two, smaller bookcases when he noticed the item that was on the shelf of the larger bookcase that he had missed looking at. He back-tracked to the taller of the room's bookcases then took in the item that he missed; his jaw came close to collapsing from his face when he saw what it was that he was looking at.

The wooden stand, that was on the bookcase's second shelf, had a very pretty sword on it. The sword's blade looked to have a diamond coating on it; the grip was made to look like a snake's neck and head—the head, rather interestingly, was open. A real ruby tongue was curled up in the mouth; the fangs looked to be made out of genuine gold. When he chanced a closer look at the sword, he saw that the grip was both scale-designed and diamond encrusted—blue and red diamonds were all over it.

"Where in the vast Universe did you get this sword, Lazeer?" he asked his son.

"From mom," Lazeer replied.

"Your mother gave you th... how? Where'd she get it and how'd she—"

"You'll have to ask her on how she got it and on how much she spent on getting it made." Lazeer replied. "I was real little when I got it. Mom went to Satheon to get it made. She did the same on my brothers' swords."

"Your brothers have swords too?" he asked, incredulously.

"Uh-huh. I call mine Schlange Schwert—that means Snake Sword, in German."

The three-legged, white oak corner desk, and its seemingly matching chair, were very normal in all attributes. A series of shelves were over the desk; the bottom one had either new or used model paints, paint thinner, and napkins on it while the top one had two mason jars on it that were half-full of water. A bunch of paint brushes were on the middle shelf. There was nothing on the desk's surface... yet. Judging by the two models that his son brought home, the desk would probably be used here in the imminent future.

He glanced at the corner desk, its seemingly matching chair, and the three shelves for only a second before going to look at the first of the room's two, smaller bookcases.

 _"They were in China at the time,"_ he remembered his wife saying two and a half weeks ago, after he asked the question on where and how Hazaar received his cracked hip.

 _"What were the boys doing in China?"_ he remembered asking her.

 _"Looking for pets—frogs and salamanders, mainly."_

It looked like the source of the calls, that he and Eshal heard last night, was just discovered. Here was something that he didn't know his son had an interest in. He found himself as being quite surprised over seeing the critters—polliwogs, as he called them—that were in the cage that was on top of the small, two-shelf, dark cherry bookcase. He was even more surprised over how healthy they looked... and over how well-maintained their cage was.

The cage, that sat atop the bookcase, that stood to the right of his son's bedroom door, was nearly, completely glass-made. The top was both ventilated and screen-made; there were a pair of swing-out doors on its front. A square-shaped light fixture, that looked to have a UVB bulb in it, was on its top. A round, heat lamp fixture, that, he presumed, had an appropriate bulb in it, was just before the UVB light fixture. Both of these fixtures were on. The cage had a natural rock background in it. There were three, bend-a-branch decorations in it—two were pinned between its sides by the suction cups that were on their ends, while the third twisted down to the dirt substrate. There was a fake Amapolla plant, that looked to be hanging over the bend-a-branches. A series of vines hung from the cage's top—two of the cage's occupants were sitting on them. The cage's bottom had a layer of dirt on it. There were two, grape driftwood ornaments resting on the dirt substrate; a large, rainforest leaf water dish was between them. He knew that the two dials, that were on the cage's side, were important—polliwogs were a species that required both heat and humidity; it looked like his son was making sure that his critters had both of them requirements.

"When we were downstairs, I was wondering what them crickets and other bugs that you had were for." he said after doing a quick count of the polliwogs that were in the cage. The enclosure looked to have five animals in it; all of them looked to be the same color—mottled green and brown. All five had a mossy appearance to their skin. From general observation, two of the five polliwogs looked to be around three inches long; another looked to be nearly that size. The two, smaller polliwogs looked to be around two and a half inches long. "How long have you been interested in polliwogs?"

"Since I was real little." Lazeer replied while coming towards him. A gentle push to the side was given; his son dropped to his knees then pulled three, long, plastic containers out from the two shelves that were under the bookcase's one, glass cage. "Just got an interest in trying to keep these."

The three plastic containers had dome tops on them. It looked like all of them had some sort of animal in them. He, not being able to control himself, knelt down beside his son to see what it was that was housed in them.

Even though his son undid the latches on the tops of all of the containers, he lifted the tops one by one. The first container, that he opened, had a heavy layer of condensation on its sides. Heat and moisture automatically escaped it after its top was removed. The container, he was quick to note, had a fine layer of soil substrate and moss on its bottom. There was a water dish in its center; there were several, fake plants and a hide on one of its sides. The container's other side was bare of any decoration. At first glance, there looked to be a single animal in it... along with being rather beautifully marked, it was about eight inches long.

"What is this?" he asked. The out-and-about animal's head, legs, feet, and tail were orange. It had an orange line going down the center of its back; there was a line of orange dots going down the length of its sides. The rest of the animal was black.

"My Emperor Newts," Lazeer said. He picked the container's one hide up; the number of animals that he thought were in it was upped from one to three.

The next container was set-up much like that of the first one. Like with the large and deep water bowl, the soil and moss substrate was deep—but not deep enough for the cage's critters to bury themselves in. The plants were the same ones that the Emperor Newts had in their enclosure; it also had a hide in it. There were two critters in this container—both were very uniquely marked, but one was bigger than the other. One of the two critters was nearly yellow while the other had thin, black patches and stripes between its yellow markings. One of the critters was seven inches long, while the other was six and a half inches long.

"Went to Spain to find these." his son said. "They're called Salamandra salamandra bernardezi—Fire Salamanders, dad."

"Rather uniquely patterned, son." he said.

"Believe it or not, they change their patterns as they grow. They start out as being mostly black, with thin, yellow stripes and patches, then, as they age, the yellow markings grow and the black background between them shrink." Lazeer said.

"Very cool, son." even though he had no interest in amphibians, he still composed himself well in regards to his son's interest.

The next container had five of the same species that he was just shown in it. Unlike the other container, that was appropriately set-up for the animals that were in it, this one had a simple paper towel on its bottom and a small, clay bowl in its center. Like with the other two containers, this one had a single hide in it. It was quite evident that this cage's critters were the offspring of the two that he was just shown—there were five, mostly black, Fire Salamanders in it that had thin, yellow stripes and spots on them. Each of the baby salamanders were around two inches in size. His son, quite surprisingly, claimed to of seen three of the five animals be born.

As his son put the three containers away, he went to look at the bookcase that was to the left of the bedroom door. When he got to it, he saw that it wasn't a bookcase—it was a normal, brown oak bedside table. Like with the bookcase, it had a glass cage, that looked seemingly similar to the one that had the moss-like polliwogs in it, on it. He really shouldn't of been but so surprised over finding that his son had more polliwogs in his care... what got him was what the cage's occupants looked like.

The cage was set-up almost like that of the moss-like polliwogs' own, and it looked like all of its occupants were healthy. The polliwogs ranged in size, from nearly two to three inches, and all of them were green in color. What got him was the fact that he could see the innards of the two animals that were "stuck" to the cage's swing-out doors—due to their translucent skin, he could see their small, red hearts beating. He could also see their intestines and livers. The one polliwog, that was on a bend-a-branch, had large, wild, hypnotic-like eyes on it; a quick check of the other polliwogs showed that they also had them types of eyes.

"Uh, Lazeer, are these... things suppose to look like this?" he asked as he stepped away from the cage that had the green polliwogs in it.

"Yes—those're called Glass Frogs. Got them a few months ago." his son replied.

The final things that he took in were on two, long shelves. One was between the room's bed and flat screen tv. It had five things on it: a very finely detailed model of a WWII German Battle Cruiser Scharnhorst; a glass bottle that contained a model of a Viking Long boat; a model of a Cruise Ship; a model of a Lobster boat; and seven books—most, of which, were either on frogs or amphibians. One of the seven books was about jokes while another was about hunting records. The other shelf, which was to the right of the room's one window, was... quite full.

The first thing that he looked at on this shelf was a model of a dinosaur. It had several rows of short spikes running down the length of the back of its neck. Beside it sat a model of a transparent alien—he gave this a good, long, look before moving on. A resin model of a Dilophosaurus was beside the transparent alien, and a resin model of two Tyrannosaurus Rex's, that were fighting over a carcass, was beside it.

"Looks very similar to the Predator." he thought after going to look at the next model.

He knew the 1987 film well. One of his staff had left his copy on the Employee Lounge's coffee table one day; Eshal, not knowing any better, had taken and watched it. She was scared of anything that resembed the film's depicted villain for all of a month before returning to being like normal. When he saw the model, that was beside the one of the two Tyrannosaurus Rex's, he automatically made the connection—while it represented the Predator, it also showed him fighting a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"Good Gods! What in the Dickens is this, Lazeer?" he asked. He was now looking at a headbust of a skull that looked... very melted and disgusting.

"That's the Tarman—from the movie Return of the Living Dead." his son replied.

Four resin models, one of a pack of Velociraptors, one of a Baryonyx, one of a Tyrannosaurus Rex that was taking down a Triceratops, and one of the Predator astride an "alien" horse, were beside the... Tarman model. Lazeer said that the model that was beside the Predator who was astride his "alien" horse was of the Cross-Eyed Monster that was in Caveman The Movie. Lazeer also claimed that the model that was beside that one was of a Goro monster; the model, that was beside the "Goro" monster, was of something that his son called a "Furufuru"—his son didn't explain what that was and he didn't ask what it was either. A resin model representation of the La Brea Tar Pit, that was located in Los Angeles, California, was beside the "Furufuru" model; it had a Smilodon, a Dire wolf, and a Mastodon on it.

"Ah no! He hasn't seen it and he doesn't have a model of it!"

He had seen the movie Pumpkinhead once before and, honestly, he had no desire to see it again—it just so figured that the model, that he was now looking at, was of the gigantic, spindly demonic monster that was only summoned to reek revenge on the souls who harmed either the one close to or the offspring of the summoner. He looked at this model for only a second before moving on to look at the what was underneath the shelf.

"Oh yes. I can see his witty sense of humor in this." he thought after looking at the sign that was both a dark silver color and had black bordering on it. The sign said _Youngest Child: The Rules Don't Apply To Me_ —with Lazeer being the way he was, he wasn't but so surprised to see that he had a sign like this in his room.

Lazeer claimed that, with the exception of the first dinosaur model, all of the models that were on the second shelf were given to him as Christmas presents. The same was said of the aluminum sign.

"After you're moved to Moas, you'll probably need more than two shelves to display all of these." he said of the models that he just looked at.

"Probably'll need a dozen," his son returned.

"Or, scratch that, I'll probably just get a door added to the side of your chamber—the one that's beside yours is empty; you can use it to display your models in." he said quickly.

"Dad," Lazeer said. Since they were talking on the issue of Moas, and since his father had noticed that he had pets, he figured that it was time to ask the question on how his pets were going to get to Moas. Frogs and salamanders were rather complex, delicate creatures—they were suspectible to just about everything. "You think the frogs and salamanders will survive the "journey"?"

"Yes, I think they will. I know a spell that'll put them in a temporary stasis for up to a week—except for being ravenous, they won't be harmed; it'll be like a lengthy nap for them." he answered.

After his sons left to do as they spoke of doing that morning, he decided to take up the room that they made in the basement. He spent two hours in that room before coming up to resume his seat in the living room; instead of watching the news, or some silly, and downright boring, soap, he channel surfed. He watched three, thirty-minute episodes of some show called The Waltons before getting up to help his wife do the laundry. He and Angel had just finished the laundry when Eshal came towards them; after hearing her tell a rather shocking tale of what came from Lhaklar's mouth, and on what he befriended, he went to re-take his seat on the sectional. He had no more sat down when his youngest son came home.

Like he said, he had no intention of having his sons part with any of their possessions—that included pets. While he'd prefer for his mansion to remain clean and orderly, he couldn't see himself as separating his sons from what they owned. What kind of father would he be if he up and said _alright kids, pack up your things but leave all pets behind_? A pretty damn bad one—while he was strict on some areas, he wasn't an overly strict parent and he wasn't like his father at all. His father, DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit, would, without a doubt, say for his sons to drop all of what they owned. He wouldn't put it past the old bastard to torch all of what his sons had, to tell the truth. His father was a rough, tough, old man who held control and firm discipline a bit too high up on his list; while them things were also on his list, he didn't over-do or cause harm or pain with them. His father also regarded being funny or comical wrongly; he preferred for one to be minimal in their jokes or comical actions. He wasn't like that at all; if his sons wanted to be funny, or comical, he'd let them... as long as they were respectful while doing so, that was.

He left his youngest son's room after taking in the mass-amount of models that were on the two, long shelves. Whether it was by coincidence, or just a matter of one of his son's pets wanting to say goodbye to him, he didn't know but, a high-piercing polliwog call was cast at his backside right when he exited the room. Both he and his son laughed at the frog's choice-time in making its call.


	6. Chapter 6

Due, in part, to the weather, and general home-life, the two weeks that followed her fader's brief conversation with the alien man were slow for her and her family. Along with heavy rain falling on the secondth, third, and fourth, and decent weather being experienced on the fifth and sixth, they experienced near thirty-two degree Celsius temperatures on the seventh, ninth, eleventh, and fourteenth. She and her sister were allowed to go out on the fifth and sixth; after that, they were house-bound.

While her sister kept herself busy with helping their mutter around the house, and with the huge make-up kit that she got from their parents on her birthday, she "reverted" to her old habit of looking at the old Kaufer house. Her fader came close to grounding her on the eighth of May—upon coming home from work, he found her staring out the living room window in the direction of the neighboring house. A big lecture on why one didn't stare at others was given, then a threat of "three months in the hole" was given, then she was sent to her room. Another lecture, this one coming from her mutter, was given on the twelfth; like her fader, her mutter found her staring at the old Kaufer house after coming in from work. A dual lecture happened the following day—after discovering that she was staring at the house again, her fader made the decision that both he and her mutter were needed to get her straight.

Even though she could of pointed out the fact that her mutter was doing the same as she—whenever she went into the kitchen, she'd find her staring out the window that was over the sink; her mutter seemed to also be making a habit out of "cleaning" the window that was both on the far side of the living room and looked out on the neighbor's house almost daily now—she hadn't. She would of been grounded if she said anything on them two facts. She decided to give her habit of staring at the house a break after that lecture was given.

Even though it was abnormally cool for that time of year, the sixteenth of May started out beautifully. After doing her usual, she went across the street to Kirstin's place. Her fader, who had only just gotten up from a nap, gave her his blessing in doing this; he watched as she went across the street then, after she entered the house that the Abbing's lived in, he turned then went into their own.

"Hey, Kirstin," she said after being led to where her friend was.

"Hey, Petra." Kirstin Abbing, who was seated on the living room's navy blue velvet sofa, said.

The black-haired, blue-eyed girl, that she went to see, was one of her oldest kept friends. Their friendship began soon after she and her family moved to the neighborhood; a small conversation at their old school, and the exchange of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for a ham and cheese sandwich, was what started it.

The Abbing house had just one working parent in it—Kirstin's dat, Benedikt, worked in the city of Karlsruhe as a lawyer. He made good money, and he treated his family well; the man, though big in girth, and tall in stature, was just as gentle as a teddy bear. He got along with just about everyone—Luther Kaufer, one of the people who use to own the house that the Irene's lived in, was the only man that she saw him have it out with. Mr. Abbing was currently at home; he was re-taking his seat on the room's matching armchair. Once he was seated, he grabbed and then opened the morning newspaper.

She had to bite her tongue to not ask the man the question that she wanted to ask. Mr. Abbing had an "encounter" with the alien man two days ago. From what she was able to gather, the man was coming back from a run up the street; Mr. Abbing, after getting his attention, had conversed with him for about five minutes before going to his house. Mrs. Abbing had an "encounter' with one of the extras that were living in the Irene house too—just that morning, when the girl alien was spotted as taking a walk around the Irenes' front yard, she went over to say hello. The girl and Mrs. Abbing spoke for maybe three minutes before going their separate ways—she wondered if they had a pleasant conversation, or if something happened to make their talk so short.

She sat beside her friend, who was sifting through the many magazines that were on the room's glass coffee table, which was held up by a very highly detailed, cute as can be, brown bear cub. She let her friend do as she was for a few seconds before talking to her.

"First real day of the month that the sky's not fallen, or the ground's not cracked open, or it's not too cold." she said.

"Hope that when the weather shapes up, we can have a decent stretch of warm weather. No cold, no heat, just good, warm weather." Kirstin returned.

"For six months." she said.

"A year would be better preferred." Kirstin stopped what she was doing to turn and then give her a wink. She returned to sifting through the magazines after winking her eye.

"Being a bit rude this morning, aren't we?" Benedikt Abbing said from behind the paper.

"No, not trying to be." Kirstin replied.

"You have a friend over, why not forget them magazines and talk to her?" Benedikt Abbing suggested. "Or go up to your room, or call some of your other friends over. Go into town or something."

"K,"

Her friend stood to her full height of five foot, three inches then gestured for her to follow her. She, at once, knew that something was amiss and that Kirstin was only looking for a way to get away from her fader. Kirstin led her down the blue-carpeted hallway, then to the blue-carpeted stairs, then down the second level's hallway, which had the same colored carpet on it, before stopping before the door that went to her bedroom. After opening the door, she went into the room; she followed her then closed the door behind them. Kirstin automatically sighed, then leaned against the room's sky blue bookcase.

"Was hoping that he'd get up then leave so I could talk to you in private." Kirstin said. "My vati's been keeping close tabs on me for nearly a month now and I'm about sick of it."

"That bad?" Petra asked.

"Yeah. He's been Mighty Vati ever since that alien dude's been seen in the neighborhood."

"My dat talked to him at the start of the month. He said that he didn't sound bad. Just relu—"

"Reluctant to talk? Yeah, that's what my vati said too. My vati talked to that guy two days ago; he said that he seemed to not want to talk to him... and that he's concerned for Miss. Irene." Kirstin said.

"Con... why? Why's he concerned for Miss. Irene?" Petra asked.

Kirstin looked at her friend before going towards her bedroom door. The dial, that was on the knob, was twisted; what she had to tell her friend didn't need to be heard by anyone else—not her vati, who, she hoped, was still in the living room, reading his newspaper; or her mummy, who was outside, hanging laundry on the line that was in the backyard; and especially not her overly nosey baby bruder, who was being nothing more than a fussy tot that morning. After locking the door, Kirstin led her friend to her bed; once Petra was seated, she started telling her what she overheard.

Her vati worked anywhere between eight and eleven hours a day. The fourteenth of May was a normal, eight-hour workday for him so, after clocking out, then getting into his car, he wasted no time in driving home. Her vati claimed to of jumped clean from the seat that he was sitting on when he saw the alien man running up the street that their house was on. With the temperature being what it was, most everyone was inside their homes. No one was willing to do much of anything that day, so it was a surprise to see the alien running up the street. Her vati drove the rest of the way home, then parked his car, then did nothing but sit there until seeing the alien man again. She was in the living room at the time, so she was able to see him tearing out of his car and then go towards him. The two did nothing but stand by the Irenes' driveway; for all of five minutes, they talked. By the time her vati came in, he was drenched in sweat... he also had a rather confused and alarmed look on his face.

"I don't know if it was the heat, or the fact of his being new here, or if he's afraid of losing someone or something, Beate, but he seems to have quite a contrasting personality." her vati said about an hour after coming in. After coming in, he went up to his and her mummy's bedroom; his sweaty suit and other items were removed then he got in the shower. After putting on a pair of normal jeans, and a white t-shirt, he came down to say hello to her, Burke, and her mummy. After he said hello to everyone, he took her mummy by the arm then led her to the basement; she eavesdropped on them by standing by the door that went to the room that they were in. "He said something about his just returning from doing some sort of business on some planet called Motalini—something about just returning from having a hearing in some court with his nephew. Even after telling him what I do for a living, he wouldn't say anything on what that business was."

"It's possible that he's just wary of you—neither of you have seen or spoken to one another before." her mummy said.

"While he wouldn't emphasize what his business on Motalini was, he did say that he had no trouble in getting into the shield that surrounds our town." her vati said. "The fact that he said something about owning several galaxies doesn't settle well with me."

"Come again?"

"He said that he owns three galaxies. He also said that he's left the shield to conduct certain, undisclosed business on them for the last few weeks." her vati said. "His tone changed after I mentioned something about Miss. Irene. He didn't so much as bark at me for calling her Miss but he did get a heated tone to his voice. He left soon after I said what I did on her."

"What'd you say on her?"

"Nothing more than she's a nice, well-composed, smart, and beautiful woman."

"Maybe he saw what you said in a wrong way."

"A normal man wouldn't get stone-like in the face after hearing a neighbor speak truth of his wife." her vati said. "Before he left to go inside, he said something about his being married to our neighbor."

"New marriage jitters? You had them for the first few weeks of our marriage, remember."

"I don't know, Beate. To me, he seems to be of the friendly sort when Miss. Irene's not spoken of. Once she, or anything about her, is mentioned, he gets... snappy, or possessive. I worry about what's going on in the Irene home, and about our heroine and her sons. Possessive men are notoriously famous for being abusive, I'd rather not see our neighbor, or any of her sons, walking around with bruises on their bodies."

Her mummy, who had a previous history with possessive men, had started to worry about their neighbor right after speaking with her vati. The man that she dated before meeting, dating, and then marrying her vati was very possessive of her; from what she told her, this man followed her all over the place, had insisted on her dropping certain family members and friends, and had insisted on her answering her cellular phone whenever he called her. On two of the four times that she didn't answer his calls, he beat her; it took the combined efforts of her parents to get rid of him. Her mummy's left eyelid drooped and she couldn't carry or bend her right arm like a normal person could thanks to that man.

Her mummy's conversation with the alien girl wasn't bad. The girl, according to her mummy, was very polite and pleasant. The only thing that she held against her was the fact that she seemed rather nervous or shy around her. Her mummy also took note of now "exquisite" the girl's clothing and jewelry were—it was an automatic deduction that the girl's vati was very well off money-wise... this deduction was adding more fuel to her parents' concern for their neighbor. Men who were rich, or well to-do cash-wise, were notoriously famous for being abusive. She had seen the programs on tv about how a rich, or well-off, man would beat his spouse and then try the sweet routine in getting her an expensive gift as a way to make it be "forgotten".

"As far as I can tell, Miss. Irene's still leaving the house. My mum saw her at U-Krop-It a few days ago; she said that she looked in good health." Petra said after being given the scoop on how her friend's parents were concerned for their neighbor.

"My mummy saw her yesterday as well. She went to the store to see if she was still working there, and to see how she was getting around." Kirstin said. "She said that she saw a burn mark on two of her fingers."

"Maybe she got it from working the stove? I got a steam burn on my hand from taking the noodles from the stove last week." Petra said, she then held her left hand up. True to her words, there was a burn area on her hand, right between her thumb and index finger. There were two, popped and scabbed-over blisters on the same area. "Burns are slow to heal."

"My mummy got real close to Miss. Irene after seeing them. She says that they look new—as in, twenty-four hours old."

As the two girls were talking about her and her husband, she was dealing with an issue that she started treating on the twenty-eighth of February. Of the forty-eight marks that Guyunis received on that fate-filled day, all but eight had healed; these unhealed marks required constant medical care, which they were about to get. After hearing Bile's request to do the wound treating in the dining room, then seeing that Guyunis agreed with it, she led them to the room then went to retrieve what was needed to tend their wounds with. Once everything was retrieved, and she was before the younger of the two boys, she started the slow removal of the bandaging that was around his upper torso. As usual, she retained the urge to wince after the first of the eight lashes were unveiled.

"He's lucky to of not gotten a nasty infection after these were given to him." Angel thought while removing her son's wrapping.

While she was happy to see that her son was still healthy, she was annoyed over his having the marks on his body. She didn't place blame on Guyunis for his destroyed back; the same went with Bile, who was there to see him receive these horrid marks. Guyunis didn't deserve the ruin that was his back—on the day that he received these marks, he was doing nothing but having a foot-race with Bile. After losing to his brother by a slim margin, then getting some of his wind back, he found himself as having to fight the very man who was behind his creation. If not for ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit, her son's back wouldn't look the way it did.

By way of using her Healing abilities, she had made it possible for her son's normal-given lashes to leave behind smaller, or thinner than usual, scars. Nothing on her part was going to make the scars, that were left behind by the eight remaining lashes, to be less severe.

"Hold very still, G." Angel said after coming upon a section of bandaging that was stuck to one of her son's gashes.

Her instruction was no more made before she wished she could take it away. With what she was seeing, she knew that his doing her command was going to be next to impossible so, when he stiffened up, then pulled himself forward after she started to remove the bandage that forged itself to one of his injuries, she didn't snap at him. She was slow in taking the bandage from the wound; after it was off, both she and her son sighed. Upon examining the wound after the bandage was removed from it, she fought to suppress the curse that wanted to come out.

The last wrap of bandaging hadn't done its job in protecting her son's back. Sadly, her son's luck had run out on his not getting any infections. From what should could see, he had more than two infections going on.

With her son's skin being as black as it was, one would have to look hard at him to see if he was blushing or bruised. Despite this, she didn't have to look hard to see the discolored flesh that was around the eight gashes or the infection that had formed on two of them. The burned skin, that was around the gashes, was a medium-red color; the gash, that ran across the back of her son's shoulders, then went down to nearly the middle of his back, had a yellowish look to it while the one that ran on a slant—from his right shoulder on down to the left side of the back of his rib cage—had a solid white scab on it that was peeling away in several places. Both of these gashes had a foul odor to them that she was quick to note. She had only to look at the oozing, yellowish liquid that was coming from the second one to know that it was badly infected. She shook her head while suppressing the urge to get real rip-roaring mad at the man who caused this to happen to her sweet boy then set to work in trying to help her son.

"Ouch!" Guyunis exclaimed.

"They that sore?" Angel asked her son. She had merely touched the first of the two infected marks; for him to flinch, and then voice his pain, only emphasized how infected they were.

"Yeah," Guyunis breathed.

While Guyunis was seated before her, Bile was seated across from her. From the beginning of their getting their injuries, she put herself on a schedule on how to treat them. Both were on a twice daily de-wrapping, examining, medicating, and then re-wrapping schedule; if either of them had expressed a wish for her to take them to a doctor, or the hospital, she would of done so with no lip or tear. Both of their injuries were bad enough to warrant a trip to one or the other. Instead of being asked to be taken to one of them medical professionals, her sons were insistent on her being the one to treat their injuries. As of the last near-month, she was doing the doctor-nurse routine on her sons upstairs. Either in her room or in one of theirs. If not for Bile's request, and then Guyunis agreeing with it, she'd be treating them up there now.

Except for Tazir, who was in the basement, collecting the laundry, everyone was upstairs. In a room. Doing what they and only they knew.

"They weren't like this yesterday." Angel thought while taking the used bandaging to the trash.

A rocket scientist wasn't needed to tell her that her son's marks became infected during the night hours. Her son had probably done a lot of sweating while he slept, which caused the two wounds to become infected. She was surprised that he didn't wake up complaining of fatigue, or about having a headache, and she was really surprised that he didn't wake up screaming.

"Think, for the next few days, you need to stay inside." she said as she carefully peeled the more infected mark's scab off. She was quick in grabbing the sponge that was on her lap after most of the scab was removed; she used it to catch the liquid discharge, that was coming from the newly opened wound. "You have a few things to keep you busy, right?"

"Yeah. Go-k-t two models to do—one of a 1912 Henderson, and the other of a WWII German BMW R75 mo-k-torcycle. The lat-k-ter comes with a sidecar, mum." her son replied.

"Got enough paints and glue to do them with?" she asked.

"Uh..." her son looked at the ceiling for a second. "No. Maybe for one, no-k-t for both."

"Didn't you just get a new thing of model paints and glue?" Bile asked. "You bought, like, four models on the fifth. Could of swore that I saw you coming in with a box of fresh paints and glue as well."

"Three, Bile." Guyunis corrected his brother. "The model of the mu-k-tated mummy took most of my new stock."

"If everything's cool on me, I'm willing to go and get him some paint. The paint's all you need, right?"

"Right, I'm all good on the glue. Jus-k-t need more paint."

"Think you need to stay in as well, Bile. Judging by the clouds that're coming in, we'll be getting some rain here in the next hour to two hours time." Angel said. "I'm going into town right after finishing up with you two. I'll be more than happy to get him his paint, and anything else that'll keep him preoccupied."

"C-can you get two discs of music for me too, mum?" Guyunis asked. "There's two bands t-k-hat I like and that I'd like some music by."

"Don't see why I can't." Angel replied. "What're their names?"

"Hellyeah and Airbourne."

"Dude! You best be expecting for me to play steal on the latter band if she gets you any music by them." Bile exclaimed. "I've been looking for some music by them for weeks now. None of the stores that I've gone into have anything by them."

"Is Airbourne a new band, or one of them bands that's just hard to find anything by?" Angel asked.

"According to Aubin, they formed in 2003. He says that they were right popular back then; they must still be pretty popular—all of the stores that I've gone into have a slot with their name on it but there's no music available by them to purchase." Bile responded.

"They sound like AC/DC, mum." Guyunis said.

"I'll see what I can do on finding and then getting something by that band for you two then." Angel said.

The two wounds were stripped of their scabs, then given a full examining, before she decided to give her Healing abilities a try. Quite surprisingly, even after two dozen healing sessions with her powers, the eight lashes hadn't healed or become less severe. It was just the same with Bile, who had a nine-inch long gash that went on a slant, from his right shoulder on down to the center of his chest then on down to the left side of his upper stomach region; her healing abilities were just not helping her sons in either feeling better or not being injured anymore. Even after trying Water Healing, Fire Healing, Smoke Healing—an ability that she learned via the scrolls that she received from a friend of hers over two thousand years ago—, and a form of Ground Healing—an ability that she wasn't really as adept in using—, their injuries had remained.

She told her son to sit as still as he could before getting to her feet. Her hand was set ablaze a second later. She was fast in dousing the flame, and in using the smoke that was billowing up from her unscathed skin. She was just starting to move the smoke that she was using back and forth, over the still-injured part of her son's back, when her husband came up from the basement. Even though she noticed him, she didn't acknowledge him. She had more important matters to take care of. Saying hello to him could wait until she was done in doing this little used and nearly forgotten ability of hers. Tazir, non-surprisingly, placed the basket of clothing down then walked over to see what she was doing.

"Nothin'," she thought. She had spent the better part of five minutes using her Smoke Healing ability and not a bit of the eight gashes were healed. After that failure, she decided to go on and try another of her healing abilities—who knew, maybe Smoke Healing was a nearly forgotten maneuver for a reason. Maybe it wasn't as strong as the other known and used healing abilities or, maybe, it was dope in comparison to them. She had just turned to go in the direction of the kitchen when she saw that Tazir was no longer "a distance" from Guyunis. Tazir, her ever handsome Universal Husband, was practically standing beside her adopted son... and Guyunis knew that he was as close as he was.

"Have any tubes or containers of Niglosen in this place?" her husband asked her.

"No," she replied. Niglosen was a form of antiseptic lotion that was a dark green color. While said to be a fast-acting medicine, and to cull down on infections setting in, it stung like hell after being applied to a wound.

"No Terminshol either?"

"No," Terminshol was said to be another fast-acting medicine; along with being a near-black color, and having a foul odor to it, it also stung like hell after being applied to a wound.

"One or the other would of helped with these," TazirVile said. His hand came deathly close to her son's back; Guyunis was quick to both turn towards and hiss at him.

Guyunis, despite still being wary of her husband, and Eshal, was now coming out from his room. He was also mingling in with the family more often. As of the last five days, he was emitting a low or barely audible growl or hiss whenever her husband came near him—she didn't know if she should laugh or chide him for this; at the moment, she was letting him do it. Least he was expressing himself with the man instead of doing his best to stay clear or tip-toe around him. Whenever Eshal came near him, he didn't growl or hiss at her; he just moved away from her.

The hiss that her son just issued wasn't barely audible. She, Tazir, and Bile heard it loud and clear.

"G, stop that now. Don't think he's trying to hurt you." Angel said.

"Go away!" Guyunis said to her husband.

"Guyunis!"

"What! He's one of them tha-k-t saw this—" her son gestured at his back. "—happen. Knowing him, he had a cheap thrill from seeing-k it happen. Probably go-k-t a good rise from it too."

"Guyunis!" Angel exclaimed.

"Au contraire, I wasn't a spectator to what happened between you and your father. I was busy with getting your brother under control." TazirVile said. Although he sounded pleasant, she knew that Guyunis's words had struck a deep, inner chord with him. "I honestly wanted nothing to do with it; I was just there to retrieve Bile."

"Sure you was." Guyunis said sharply.

He bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood; if not for his wife being in the room, and his knowing that he deserved what was coming from the kid's mouth, he would of given Guyunis a good piece of his mind. The event of what happened on that final day of February wasn't one of them things that one could forget in the blink of an eye. As much as he hated to admit it, he was involved in what happened and, thanks to that, he wasn't regarded well by the boy who was viciously treated. He knew that he was getting a good dose of the youngster's naturally gotten distrust.

The boy's back reminded him of his and his wife's own. Scar city. His grandfather had placed forty normal lashes to that young back before giving eight more. The whip was used normally for the first forty then it was set on fire for the remaining eight—thus the reason behind the burned outer edges of the ones that had yet to heal. While he was curious over the move that his wife was doing to heal Guyunis's back—he had never seen or heard of it before and his wife had surely not said a thing on being able to do it—, his curiosity over how bad the boy's back looked was higher. His stomach went just as cold as ice after he saw the kid's back; mental images of he, as a young teenager, getting lash marks to his body, and of his wife's very badly scarred over back, had happened right after he saw the state of Guyunis's back.

He moved away from the boy then went to retrieve the basket of clothing. Only after grabbing the basket, then leaving the kitchen, did he stop to tell his wife that he'd place Guyunis's clothes in her room—that way Guyunis wouldn't start accusing or grow even more distrustful of him. His wife was told to not come in to work that day; the human that she regarded as her boss had called to tell her to take the next two days off. She had worked too many hours over the last nine months and was required to take a few-day vacation—which he was glad for her to be having.

"Along with being asked to do a double shift on the fourteenth and yesterday, she came home with a very sore set of feet and being very tired." he thought while going up the stairs.

It was no surprise to him that, when he was rubbing her feet on the day of her initial double shift, she fell asleep on him. The same went when he found that she burned two of her fingers on the morning following her second overtime. With these two events being known to him, he was hoping that the next five months went by swiftly—get her on Moas and she won't ever have to worry about having to go off to work again.

After reaching the residence's second level, he did as he told his wife he would in putting Guyunis's clothes in her room. With the basket being empty of the six pairs of pants and socks, that were owned by that young man, he went to give the remaining clothes to his secondborn son. Of the ones in the house, only Eshal, Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer had gone down to retrieve their clothes; Guyunis and Hazaar were the only ones to not do so.

Thanks to his use of his Telepathy on the fifth of May, he was able to see who slept in what room of the house's second level. This knowledge caused him to not go from room to room, asking who owned what or where his secondborn's room was. Once before the room that was across from the one that was owned by Guyunis, he stretched his hand forward to knock.

"Take it that this emphasizes his personality." he thought after looking at the sign that was on the door.

The sign was one of them aluminum types. It had a _No Trespassing_ slogan on it; below the slogan was a very on-guard Doomonshur Stanture—to the humans, the breed was called the Doberman Pincher; to the contrary belief, it wasn't an Earth-bred dog. The "Doberman Pincher" had come from the planet Doomonshur, which it got its name from. Like with so many other things that the humans were able to acquire over the last three thousand years, a craft was felled and then captured; on it were forty of the Doomonshur Stanture—the humans took all of the survivors after finding them in that craft then, after years of breeding and then giving it a new name, they started distributing them as a guard dog and pet to the populace.

Non-surprisingly, there was a slogan below the dog. It said _Attack Dog on Premises_.

He was exhibiting a side of him that became embedded in him during his early childhood when he knocked on his son's bedroom door. He wasn't one to enter a room without warning; he preferred to knock and then wait for a verbal invitation to come in.

"Hold on!" his secondborn son, who had a tough-sounding voice, said from inside the room. He was forced to wait for a little while before the door was opened. "Dad?"

"Hey, Hazaar." he said. He held the basket of clothing out. "Thought you might need these."

"Thanks, guess it's better that you bring these up than Lazeer—he's been saying something about putting itching powder in my drawers for the last few days." his son, who took the basket from him slowly, said.

"No problem, and itching powder in one's drawers doesn't sound like fun."

His son, who, after giving his hair a trim in late-September, then saying a spell to make it combine into a long, thin strand, started wearing an attachment on his rattail, turned then went into his bedroom. He stood by the still-open door for a second before turning and then starting the process of going downstairs. He had no more started on his way before hearing his son calling out to him—which was good damn surprise to him!

He and Hazaar had a minor falling out on the morning of the thirteenth. Angel had said something about his needing to clean his room and he came back saying that he'd "get to it when he got to it". A five to ten minute round of talking and chiding occurred; Angel had really gotten on their son for his not cleaning his room and Hazaar had continued to try to put it off. Eshal had spoken on what Angel wanted her brother to do then Lhaklar had jumped in to add his two cents. Hazaar had snapped at both of them. He had stepped in to put a halt to the situation after Lhaklar was snapped at; Hazaar had both snapped at and done plenty of mouthing off and cursing his fool head off about not wanting to do what was asked of him to him.

Hazaar had only gone up to do as he was told after both he and Angel teamed up to put to bed the situation on whether or not he cleaned his room now or later.

He was on his way down the stairs when his son called out to him. He stopped, then turned around, then went up the few steps that he went down, then went to the room that his son was in.

"And it looks like he did as he was told." he thought after entering the room.

Once in the room, his eyes were directed to one thing—the bed. Like Lazeer's, it was big enough for one; unlike Lazeer's, it had a different look to it. His secondborn son's bed was both shoved against the center of the room's back-facing wall and encased in a faux-brown leather material that, from his distance, looked right smooth. The bedding was multi-blue and black colored, and had white and yellow lightning bolts on it; the pillow cases, that were on the two pillows, matched it perfectly. There looked to be a dark blue fleece blanket between the comforter and flat sheet.

On the baseboard of the bed was a pelt. It could belong to no other animal than the Chamois goat—along with being a nice, rich brown color, it had a near-black stripe running down its back and a white rump patch on it.

A dark brown, walnut-like bedside table was to the left of the bed. Instead of having doors or drawers on it, it had a small storage space on it. One of them Salt lamps—the sort that even he had an interest in as a young teenager—was on its surface. The lamp really did have a crystallized rock appearance to it; since it was on, he could see that it was a multi-orange, yellow, and red color—even though he reached adulthood a long time ago, he was still intrigued by it. A vintage style, locomotive model alarm clock was beside the lamp. The locomotive-part of the clock was made to look like one of them Steam engines that were used from 1890 to 1910; the clock-part of the clock was on the locomotive's cab.

Like with his limited knowledge of Lazeer's interests, he didn't know much about Hazaar. He knew that he liked building train and spaceship models—from general observation of the room, he thought that his son had dropped one of them interests. Along with knowing about them two interests of his son's, he knew that his son was also very caught-up in the phase that he was going through.

"Someone either did some hunting in some off location on this planet or came by one fine piece of taxidermy." he said after noticing the bigger of the two preserved animals that were at the foot of his son's bed.

He knew very well what a Red river hog was. The hog, that was standing to the left of the foot of the bed, was both large and very impressively preserved. The animal, which was mounted on a piece of brown wood, had striking red fur with black-colored legs; it had a tufted white stripe going down its spine and tufted ears. The animal had white markings around its eyes and on its cheeks and jaws; the rest of its face was black. It had very recognizable humps on the sides of its snout; it also had two small, but very sharp, tusks. The animal was approximately sixty inches long; it stood about thirty-one inches tall.

Like with his knowledge of the planet's Red river hog species, he knew well what a Klipspringer was. It just so happened that his son had a preserved specimen of that animal to the right of the foot of his bed. The animal was twenty-two inches tall; it had a thick, speckled "salt and pepper" coat of an almost olive shade. The horns, that were on its head, were four inches long. The animal was mounted on a piece of bark wood; if he was seeing things correctly, it was of the female gender. Like with Lazeer's preserved Dik-dik, the Klipspringer was one of the planet's smallest-known species of antelope.

"From my hunts," Hazaar, who was putting his clothes away, said. His son was standing before a simple, brown dresser that had five drawers on it; a 30" flat screen tv was mounted above it. "Actually caught three of the hogs and four of the antelopes."

"More hunting trophies?" he asked after going towards the room's four-shelf, dark brown espresso bookcase, which was between the closet and upper left corner.

"Yes," his son answered without turning to see what he was asking about.

On the bookcase's top shelf was a set of Pronghorn Antelope hooves. Beside them was a Ruffled Grouse, a bird that was built like a chicken, but that had multi-gray feathers and scales on their bodies, and no spurs on their feet. The skull of a Giant forest hog piglet was beside the Ruffled Grouse; beside it was a set of four Chamois hooves.

The stereo, that was on the second shelf, looked very eerily like that of Lazeer's. There was a collection of magazines and music discs on either side of it. While the second shelf had nothing else on it that caught his attention, the one below did; like his brother, Hazaar had a right unique sword on display in his room. The sword had a long, straight, silver-coated blade that had a real ruby-colored tip to it; the grip and pommel had a very elaborate, gold and ruby design to it. The sword was on an acrylic stand, which looked to be holding its weight well. When he asked his son about the sword, he found that, like Lazeer's, he got it when he was real young. Hazaar claimed to of named it the Rubinus Aureum Gladium, which meant Golden Ruby Sword in Latin.

The next shelf had a right weird assortment of trophies on it. A jar, that contained a very finely preserved Warthog piglet, was the first item that he looked at; a perfectly preserved head of a Vervet monkey was beside it. The fur, that was on the monkey's head, was a mostly grizzled-gray color, while the fur on the face was black. There was a tinge of white hair around the animal's dark face. A Mongoose was beside the Vervet monkey head; it was long and lean and had a tawny-brown coat. The eyes, that were in its face, were narrow; there were ovular pupils in both of them. While the Mongoose was the last item on the shelf it wasn't the final hunting trophy that was in his son's room.

"Very impressive!" he thought after seeing the Pronghorn Antelope head, that was on the wall above the bed. Beside the Pronghorn head was an equally impressive bull skull; when he asked about these two items, he learned that the Pronghorn head came from one of his son's hunts while the bull skull was something that he came across while on a walk.

When he looked down, he saw that there was a rather expensive looking rug beside the bed. It was both charcoal gray and synthetic shag, which he liked. He looked at the rug for only a second before turning to look at the contents that were on the set of shelves that were in the top left corner.

All four of the shelves were sturdily rigged to the wall and were full to capacity; he contained his shock over seeing that each of them were full of models. The lowest shelf contained a model of the Orion Space Shuttle—a craft that the humans started putting together on May 24, 2011, and that they sent out to space on June 12, 2024; it was designed to carry more than two to destinations at or beyond the planet's orbit. An Apollo Lunar Space craft model was beside the Orion model while, beside it, was a model of what he thought was a massive, amphibious warship. Warships that were designed to travel on both air and sea were made for over two millenia now; he wasn't but so surprised to see that the humans had made a model of such a craft—he doubted if they knew that they existed. The human race had yet to branch out from their planet and the galaxy that it was in.

A model of a spaceship that was shown in the old, Earth-made tv show called Galaxy Quest was beside the amphibious warship. If he recalled correctly, the craft that the model depicted was given the name of N.S.E.A Protector. Yet another model of a spaceship that was depicted on one of the planet's old tv shows was beside the N.S.E.A Protector; Space:1999 was a British run science-fiction show that the second oldest of his mother and stepfather's sons had grown an interest in for a few hundred years. He wasn't surprised to see that his son had a model of the Eagle Ultra Probe in his room.

"Voluptuous, but covered. Thank the Gods!" he said after taking in the Belle of Tortuga resin model figure that was on the shelf above the one that had the spaceship models on it. The model was of a female pirate, who was standing over a treasure chest; while her white shirt was open, it covered her breasts. The model wasn't wearing pants... instead, her lower parts were concealed by a g-string and loin cloth. A red parrot was on her left shoulder.

A resin model of Dracula and Miss. Lucy was beside the Belle of Tortuga model and, beside it, was a model of a rather busty Jessica Rabbit. He had seen both films, so he knew what the models were based on. The werewolf-transformed Dracula was... well, having sex with the red cloth draped figure of Miss. Lucy—even though he identified what the figures were doing, he was okay with the model. The female figure was clothed; nothing was exposed on her. A resin model figure of the Crypt Keeper was beside the model of Jessica Rabbit; it had fake doll hair on it. A resin model of The Fly—he had only seen the film once; he had no intention of seeing it again—was beside the Crypt Keeper. The next model was of the Newborn Alien from Alien 4: Resurrection.

"From The Angry Red Planet, right?" he asked after seeing the diorama that depicted the three men that were fighting off the bat-rat-spider monster that's legs were mistakenly seen as being trees.

"Kick ass film! Yeah, that's based from the movie." Hazaar exclaimed. "You've seen that movie, dad?"

"Seen it more than four times now. Your mother's the one responsible for me seeing it." he replied. Since he was there, and looking at his son's models, he thought he should address the issue of the room lacking any model trains. "Did you decide to put your interest in trains to the side? I'm surprised that you have no model trains in your room, son."

"I have a bunch, dad. They're in a box in my closet; no space to put them up right now."

A resin model of a naked man battling a Great Ape was on the second shelf; beside it was a model of a wingless flying dragon. Quite surprisingly, there was a replica that depicted a Henodus turtle—one of the planet's extinct reptile life—beside the wingless flying dragon. The shelf above the one that the Henodus turtle replica was on had two items on it: a lamp and a small statue. The lamp had a town in it; the town, that was in its dome, was shown as being half-cloudy. When he went to give the lamp a closer look, he noticed that the cloud-mass was moving. It took him a second to realize that the lamp was one of those that detected and then imitated the weather that was happening outside. The statue depicted a tortoise that had a tall and broad shell; the sculpted head and limbs were long and quite finely detailed.

"I'll probably have to do the same with you on the chamber that's beside the one that you have on Moas, son." he said as he turned around. "Knowing how you are with these models, you'll need a bigger space to display them in."

"Huh?" Hazaar looked up from where he was; along with being on his bed, it looked like he had an open magazine on him, which he seemed to be trying to hide from him.

"On Moas, the chamber that's beside yours is empty. Was thinking about putting a door on the side of your chamber—make it so you can display all of your models in that chamber, so your bedroom won't become swallowed up, or get overly crowded with all of what you've built."

"Oh, okay. Yes, I'd like that." his son said as he closed and then hid the magazine that he was holding.

After turning around, he saw that there was a very finely preserved specimen of a Brown hyena beside the dresser. The hyena was fifty-five inches in both head and body length; it had long and shaggy hair that was a combination of brown, dark brown, and gray. A quick measuring told him that the hair that was on its neck and back was twelve inches long. He was quick to take in the trophy before moving on to look at what was on the table that was near the room's upper right corner.

"Well now, I see that you also have pets." he said after seeing the animals that were in the long, glass aquarium that was sitting on the small, but very sturdy, white oak table.

"Those're my Golden Coin Turtles." Hazaar, who now sounded very alert, said.

Like with his discovery of Lazeer's interest in polliwogs, he was quite surprised over seeing that Hazaar had an interest in turtles—or Cooters, as he called them.

The cage, that he was looking at, had an evenly divided environment in it. Its right side consisted of a land-like environment while the left was water-like. There looked to be two, thin slabs of rock on the cage's right side; a fine layer of mixed dirt, gravel, and sand was over them. The two slabs of rock made the cage's land part look higher than its other side. The environment in the cage's right side was very natural looking; along with there being two, flat, cork bark pieces lying near the water, there was a mass of Spagnum moss in the top left corner. There looked to be an artificial tree bark stump in the other corner. Fake autumn leaves were strewn about the dirt substrate; there were several, uncoiled, fake Ivy vines hanging from the screen top—they only came down from its left side.

The water-portion of the cage had decorative river rocks lining its bottom. There were two, small, artificial logs floating in the water. The back of the cage had a tropical background taped to it to give its inhabitants a little more comfortable setting. The screen top had a low-wattage basking light and a reptile UVB light on it.

There were two cooters in the cage and both of them were nearly five inches long and wide. They were rather colorful. Their shells were a dull yellow-gold color, while the limb sockets, and the undersides of the limbs and tail, were a brilliant pinkish-orange color; the sides of the limbs on both of the animals were either a brown, a gray, or an olive-green color. The cooters had narrow and pointed heads, that were also colorful. One of the cooters had a yellow dome on its head while the other had an olive-green dome on it; both of them had yellow-orange patches behind their eyes. While both of the animals had a thick, black line extending from their noses to the side of their faces, one of them possessed a little thinner line. The upper and lower jaws of the two animals were yellow while the underside of their necks was a pinkish-orange color. It looked like their shells were hinged—when he went to look at the cage, one of the animals pulled its head, tail, and limbs into its shell. Both of the animals were walking around the land-mass part of the cage; one was under an artificial leaf while the other was near the bark stump.

"How long have you been interested in cooters, son?" he asked.

"Take it that a cooter is a turtle?" his son, who suddenly appeared at his side, asked.

"Yes,"

"Since I was real little."

"Around the same time that Lazeer got his interest in poli... in frogs?"

"Yeah—he kinda got his interest from me. Came home with a Spiny softshell turtle one day when I was a kid; Lazeer started getting an interest in frogs a few weeks after momma said I could keep it."

Before going on to look at the room's five posters and three signs, he went to look at the cage that was on the surface of the room's dark brown, two-shelf bookcase. Even though he knew his son had cooters as pets, and even though he told himself to expect to find something around the area of a cooter or two in the cage that sat atop the smaller bookcase, he was surprised over what he saw. The cage was set-up much like that of the Golden Coin Turtles' own; the land and water parts had "swapped" places but, for the most part, it was very nearly spot-on to that of the other cage. It was the three cooters that were in it that blew him away.

The animals resembled a species that was commonly seen on Moas... commonly seen by folk who were more located in-land than near the coastlines, that was. He had only seen the species a handful of times after moving in.

Two of the cooters had a mostly red-brown shell that had a yellow spinal ridge. The third had an amber color to its shell and a smoky spinal ridge. All of them had sharp, pointy spikes running along the edges and spines of their shells; two of them also had three or four spikes jutting up from between the spinal ridge and edges of their shells. Two of the cooters were nearly six inches long and wide; the smaller of the three was an inch to an inch and a half smaller than them.

"Do me a favor when I get you back on Moas," he said after standing to his full height. "Don't do any cross-breeding. Let's keep it as having one species breeding within that species."

"No problem—not sure if I have any females yet. Think I do—two of them have shorter tails than the other does." Hazaar said. He was on his way over to look at the room's posters and signs when his son suddenly cleared his throat. "Don't forget to look at the other turtles that're on that bookcase, dad."

He went back to the bookcase then stepped back; sure enough, there was another cage on it that he had missed. He crouched low then peered at it soon after noticing it. This cage, he was quick to note, was of the fully aquatic type. There was about twelve inches of water in it; the water system, that was attached to the right-side glass panel, was keeping the water nice and clear and healthy for the animals that were in it. There were three, green, artificial Hagen Hortwort plants, two artificial sword leaf plants, and two artificial Begonia plants in the tank; two, Fin Rock cave ornaments were in its center. The cage had an underwater Amazon forest background taped to its back. The three floating Lily Pads, that were floating about on the water's surface, were the final two decorative pieces in the cage. The screen top had a UVB light and a low-wattage heat light on it; there was a temperature reader on the left-side glass panel that currently read fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit.

"Hazaar, what in the vast known Universe are these... things?" he asked.

Hazaar had said turtles just a few seconds ago... While the cage's creatures looked to resemble that animal they also looked to resemble a totally different animal too. He had never seen anything that looked like what he was looking at before in his life.

The two animals, that were swimming about in the tank, had broad, flat shells that were a mostly dark green color. The plastron, or underbelly part of the shell, was very broad; one of the cooters had a creamy-colored plastron while the other's was yellow. If not for the length of their necks, he wouldn't be but so interested in them—both of the animals had long, narrow necks that were nearly as long as their shells. The animals' mouth structure was set like that of a smile; both of the cooters were five and a quarter inches long and wide.

"They're Eastern Long Neck Turtles, dad." Hazaar said.

"Are their necks always this long?" he asked.

"Yes."

Like with Lazeer's interest in polliwogs, newts, and salamanders, he had no interest in cooters. He composed himself well, regardless of his lack of interest in the creatures. He nodded his head at the cooters, asked a few more questions on them, promised to have them brought back to Moas in five months, then went to look at the room's posters and signs.

The first poster that he looked at was on his son's closet door. It, non-surprisingly, had all sorts of spaceships on it—all of what was on it was sent into space some thousand to two thousand years ago. The poster that was to the left of the closet looked similar; it had a lot of fictional spaceships on it—like the Millennium Falcon, from the movie Star Wars; the Tardis, from the British science-fiction television program Doctor Who; and the Voyager, from the American television program Star Trek. The poster that was screwed to the back of his son's bedroom door had a woman on it that was wearing a right showy brown bikini; the necklace, that was hanging from around her neck, had three, circular topaz stones in it. The woman, for some reason, was covered in blood; he had to give the poster a closer look to see that she had a pair of vampire fangs in her mouth, which was open in a snarl.

He was openly acceptive of the poster that had the vampire-looking girl on it. The girl was wearing something over her parts; no skin or private areas were able to be seen on her.

The poster that he looked at next was tacked to the short section of wall that was between his son's bookcase and closet. The two trains, that were on it, were heading for a head-on collision.

The aluminum sign, that was screwed to the wall that was to the left of the bedroom door, said _You Are Being Monitored_. There were two stick figures running above the slogan; the second one, for some reason, had a computer monitor in its arms. He couldn't help but laugh at the large aluminum sign that was to the right of the bedroom door; it had a cartoon baby on it that had a full diaper. The caption, that was on it, said _A boss is like a diaper... Always on your ass, and usually full of_ ; there was a little arrow behind the word _of_ pointing at the diaper. The aluminum sign, that was beside that one, was made to look like a comic; there were three kids sitting on a bench, which was in front of an office that had the word Principal on the door's window. It looked like all of the kids had gotten into some sort of trouble. The quote that was above the grumpy, blonde-haired girl character that had a bow in her hair said _I said the "S-H" word_ while the quote that was above the grumpy, hipster-like boy character said _I said the "F" word_. There was a nervous, skinny kid beside the hipster-like character; the quote that was above him said _I said "Christmas"._

The aluminum sign, that was over the room's four-legged corner desk and chair—which were in the bottom right corner—, caused him to emit another laugh. Along with being black, it had a silver border on it; in its center, it said _Middle Child: I'm the reason why rules are made_. In a sense, Hazaar was his middle-born child. The sign, to him, made a lot of sense.

"Think I best get out of here—you look to be needing some "time" with that magazine that you're trying to hide from me." he said as he started for the door.

"Magazine? What magazine? Think you need your eyes checked Old Man, I have no magazines near me." his son shot at his backside.

"The one that you slid under your pillow, son."

While he would much prefer for his son to not be as frequent a reader of them pornographic magazines that he had an interest in, he couldn't really stop him from getting or looking at them. All of his sons had come home on the fifth of May with a pornographic magazine in their month-supply of May editions; while he did a quick browse of the one that Bile left on the kitchen counter, he didn't grow excited or consider grabbing it and then going to a part of the house that he'd get some privacy in. Up to his marriage to Angel, he was a semi-frequent viewer of them pornographic magazines. All throughout his marriage to his first wife, he used them types of magazines as a means to release his sexual appetites on. Bespe had either refused him in bed or insisted on their actions in the bedroom being short—with no "sweet" action added in for flavor; aka the hop-in then hop-out routine.

Angel had taken care of his issues in that regard after they were discovered as being partners. There was no need for sexual stimulation via the use of pornographic means after their marriage. No sort of pornographic material was purchased by him for over two thousand years now.

Even after Angel "took off" with the boys, he didn't revert back to wanting to buy porn magazines. He was so busy in trying to find her and their sons that he forgot all about his sexual needs.

"So, stranger, been noticing that you've been staying with my neighbor for a while." he remembered the big, tall man, who had short, black hair and steel-gray eyes, saying two days ago. With his just returning to the planet after seeing his nephew in court, and after going to his place on Moas to square away matters with the substantial bills that he hadn't paid in over six months, he had figured that a little run up the street was needed. A little run, just to put his stresses over Vile not wanting to accept the responsibility, or see the wrong in his actions over what he did in trying to take his firstborn and secondborn sons' lives, behind him; that was what he wanted to do. The run was nice; no one bothered him. His return to the house was slowed up by some man named Benedikt Abbing, who damn near broke his neck in getting to him.

"Yes, nearly a month now." he replied.

"She's a right nice lady,"

"Indeed,"

"Right smart, and nicely composed—don't think I've ever seen a woman as beautiful as Miss. Irene either, to be blunt honest with you."

"Mrs., not Miss." he came close to spitting at the man. That damn "Miss." tag had, yet again, been applied to his wife's name; he was quick in voicing his annoyance over it. It was just the unmarried tag that got under his skin; he was perfectly fine with having other men voicing how well composed, nice, smart, and beautiful his wife was.

"Mrs.?" the Benedikt-man said.

"Yes, she's my wife." he said.

He and the man spoke for twenty more seconds before parting ways. He went into the house, showered, then put on a fresh suit, then waited for his wife to return home; he didn't know what Mr. Abbing did and, honestly, he didn't really care. What the humans who lived around him and his family did in their homes was their business. He gave respect where it was needed. Always had, always would.

"Five more months and you and yours won't have to worry about these humans again." he thought as he went downstairs.


	7. Chapter 7

"Gunna answer that?" his buddy, Kiefer Kassmeyer, asked.

"Sure has a funny ringtone to it." Kiefer's twin brother, Killian, said.

"No thank you. I'd prefer to stay alive today." Lazeer responded to Kiefer's question.

If not for it being four inches long by three inches wide, and being silver in color, it'd be normal. With the phone being shorter and wider than a tv remote, it wasn't normal. He agreed with Killian—it _did_ have a funny ringtone to it! He and his friends had leaped for the roof after the jingle sound, followed by the scratchy-screechy one, was heard; along with jumping, and then turning to stare at it, they stopped playing the game that was before them.

The Kassmeyer twins, and Eli Mendelsohn, had made the decision to come over today. After receiving their call, then seeing them after answering the door, he neither said anything negative or stopped them from coming in. His friends knew what was going on in his home; they weren't reluctant to come in, and they weren't fazed by the fact of their being "in the company" of his father—who was the only parent of his to be home right now. When his friends were let in, he noticed that two of them had games on them. Kiefer and Killian had gotten two games for Christmas; for the last few months, they were itching to get everyone together to play them. With all of what was going on, neither he nor Eli were able to join them in trying them out.

The Kassmeyer's were fast in putting that to bed. A call to Eli was made, then a call to him was made, then they came over; for the most part, the Kassmeyer's had invited themselves, and Eli, over. He hadn't had any say on whether or not they could come over. In a way, he was glad that they did—this was a perfect chance for him to see how his father reacted to people who dropped by without putting ample warning in first. As far as he could tell, the man was just annoyed over the three popping in without notice.

"Dad was in the kitchen when they were let in." he thought while waiting for his turn to play the game to come around. "When I brought my friends over for introducing, he had just gotten through making himself, and Eshal, a grilled cheese sandwich."

Bile and Eshal were also in the kitchen, but for different reasons. With their mother at work, their father decided to take on the chore of teaching Eshal how to cook; like Lhaklar, he was surprised over how little his sister knew on how to work a stove or cook a meal. Here he was, the youngest of his siblings, and he had good knowledge on how to work a stove. The same went on how to cook a meal for both himself and his family.

"While dad was working on teaching Eshal how to make a simple grilled cheese sandwich, Bile was taking a one-serving, pepperoni, sausage, and green pepper pizza from the oven."

After introducing his friends to his father and sister, he led them to the living rom. A folding table, then four of the dining room chairs, was retrieved then the 3D map board for Game of Thrones was set-up then they started playing. His father had come in on them twice now; his cellular was left on the coffee table a little under five minutes ago. Where his father was now, he didn't know. He did think that it was odd that the man left his phone behind—he usually kept up with the many items that he kept on his person.

Before the game was started, a euro coin was flipped. He won the Kingdom of the North by simple default—he wanted the Kingdom of the Isles and Rivers but, sadly, Kiefer had won that one. Killian had won the Kingdom of the Stormlands while Eli was left with the Kingdom of the Mountain and the Vale. So far, he was getting the tar beat out of him; Eli and the younger of the Kassmeyer twins were also being beat, but not as badly as he, though.

"Think you're about to lose Deepwood Motte, Lazeer." Kiefer, who had a small "platoon" near the castle, that sat to the northwest of Winterfell, that was in Wolfswood, near the coast of the Bay of Ice, said.

"Come on, man!" Lazeer moped. "You took Flint's Finger, Hornwood, and Ironrath. Attack someone else's castle, I've only got two remaining."

"Now one." Kiefer said evilly. He placed a red flag on the castle that was just taken from his control.

"That's okay. You left a fine opening for me to take Greywater Watch and Moat Cailin." Lazeer said after rolling the dice. He found himself as taking a fleet of four horsemen and soldiers towards the figurine of a castle ruin that stood in the center of his friend's area.

"Damn you, Lazeer!" Kiefer exclaimed. "Those're my two favorite castles."

"The game's tide seems to be swinging from you." Killian smiled. He rolled the dice, then moved two places closer to the capital of Eyrie, which was in the Kingdom of the Mountain and the Vale.

A series of cards were held in each of their hands; after rolling the dice, then moving their men forward the number of times that they told them to, then taking a card per step that they took after rolling them, they looked at them. He was quick in throwing three of the four cards that he took from the stack down. The card of the red dragon was very strong, as was the one of the blue icicle. The card that had a cavalry charge on it was the strongest of the three, though. He placed a blue flag on Greywater Watch castle soon after throwing the cards down; Kiefer scowled at him almost at once. Soon after claiming Greywater Watch as his, Eli threw two cards down on the map board. The card of the horseman's charge and the card of the catapult allowed him to claim the closest castle that his figurines were near—which was Castle Cerwyn, which was in the Kingdom of the Stormlands.

Kiefer found himself as having to relinquish ten of the game's paper money. Two of the cards that he took from the stack said that he sustained "damages" to three of his wagons. He was required to pay for them to be repaired before being allowed to move forward again. Two of Kiefer's sea vessels had to be returned to port too—again, "damages" were noted on them. Killian found himself as having to pay for the "damages" that were made on his two returned-to-port vessels too.

"I'm still going to beat you losers." Kiefer said.

"Let's not be but so sure of yourself," Eli said as he rolled the dice.

The game, for him, ended five minutes later. Kiefer took his final castle, which meant that he didn't have anything to protect. He made a pout face after his friend's "troops" swarmed in to take his final stronghold, then watched as his friends finished the game. Non-surprisingly, Kiefer beat his brother five minutes later then, not long after that, he swarmed in to take all of Eli's claimed areas. After the older of the twins won the game, the game was put away; the other was taken out and then set-up. This one was very similar to Battle Ship. The only difference to that old timey game? It consisted of more than three fold-out tablets, all of which were 3D after being turned on and could only be seen by the one who was playing it. It could also be played by more than two persons at a time. He set his tablet up quickly, then selected the areas where he wanted his ships to be, then waited for his friends to do the same.

He didn't know if it was luck or fate, but, right after the first "boom" was heard from their playing tablets, his father walked into the room. He and his friends hid the chuckles after the man stopped short; the old foggy looked all over the place—his stomach hurt after he did that. he had never held in the chuckles so hard before in his life—before going towards his phone, which had since stopped ringing.

"Orange X means that I came close to hitting something, right?" Eli asked.

"Uh," Kiefer grabbed the instruction manual then read the section on how to play the game. "Yeah. Blue X means that you didn't hit anything. Green X means that, while you still didn't hit anything, there's something in that area. Purple X means that you're close to where a ship is. Orange X means that you're very close to hitting a ship. Red X means that you hit a ship. If you see a Black Oval, that means you sunk a ship."

"I came very close to hitting one of your ships." Eli sang, then did a little dance in his chair that made all of them laugh.

After entering the room that his son and his friends were in, he was reminded of the conversation that he and this "child psychologist" had. It was two weeks after Lazeer was born when this woman approached and then told him that people who were born prematurely weren't as social as ones who were born at or around the appropriate gestation; she told him to not expect for his son to be very social if he survived his too-early birth. He wished that she was in the building; Lazeer looked just as social as his brothers were and there didn't seem to be any form of hesitancy on his part to become involved with others.

"Bet my father would like the games that they're playing." he thought while taking his phone up from where it was. "He likes anything that revolves around battle... What they're playing would be up his ally."

Though annoyed over not being told that company was coming over, he didn't show it. His son's company was allowed to come in, be introduced, then get comfortable. Lazeer, despite being the younger of his four sons, seemed to be a very confident young man. He was right proud of that—that "psychologist" had also said that premature babies grew into non-confident people; he had good proof that proved her wrong.

His son, and his friends, were around halfway done in playing the first game when he decided to leave the room. Father intuition had told him to go upstairs; with his wife at work, he was the only logical one around to settle any quarrels that happened with the boys—it just so happened that his feeling revolved around that happening. Upon his exit of the stairs, he found that Hazaar and Guyunis were going at it. He got there just in the nick of time to prevent their normal, verbal altercation from turning into a physical one.

While he knew that Hazaar and Lazeer were in the throes of the Temperamental phase, he knew nothing on Guyunis experiencing it—with what just happened, he was close to saying that he was.

He had just reached the top of the stairs when Hazaar swung at his brother. Guyunis, who seemed to be a right quick kid, had managed to dodge the hit. He rushed forward to put a stop to the fight right when Guyunis started acting like he was going to grab and then throw Hazaar against the wall. His secondborn son, after seeing him, had backed off—after saying a few naughty words, and throwing his arms towards the ceiling, that was. Guyunis, though, had turned towards him. The spell that would cause any and all sounds or noises that happened in a specific area in a residence to not be heard anywhere else was done after that happened; he didn't have a desire for anyone else to become involved in what was happening on the level.

"Five days ago, Angel and I discussed matters on who can act parental with Guyunis." he thought after separating the two boys.

He was told to take it easy on Guyunis after receiving permission to be the paternal body with him. With the permission granted to him, he started acting in a paternal sense towards the boy. Right now, he was just trying to get him under control and establish a sort of rank with him—with Guyunis's real father not wanting to be apart of his son's life, and with his seemingly fallen from the face of the Universe, he saw himself as being the next logical choice in being a paternal figure to him.

Guyunis, who had yet to start trusting him, hadn't seen reason in his coming up to put a stop to his and his brother's fight. A bunch of words were spewed from his mouth, then he pushed him back twice, then he started acting like he was going to hit him. He did as he thought was right in grabbing the wrist that was flung at him; a mild subduing, his telling the kid to both cool it and go to his room, then a light push occurred. Nothing really serious had happened between them. Guyunis ran off to his room after being released from his hold.

"If he's to live with us on Moas, and be regarded appropriately, he needs to get a better grip on himself. With me playing the part of his daddy, he'll learn to do so." he thought after the boy went on his way.

While his wife was an extraordinary woman, and seemed to have a good handle on the raising of her young, she did require some assistance from a man and... well, since he was available, and wasn't regarding Guyunis in the same light that his father was, he was up to the job in being a sort of daddy to him. He wasn't about to abuse the priviledge given to him; he was planning on being with him like he was with Bile.

His action of going upstairs was done so fast that he left his cellular behind. His phone was where he left it—on the coffee table. When he picked it up, he was quick to see that he missed a call. He flipped the phone's top up, then grabbed the stylus touch pen from its accustomed place on its side, then started the process of seeing who it was that called. As fate would have it, he no more placed the stylus's soft end on the phone's screen when the little envelope that said he got a text was seen. He pressed the pen's soft end to the envelope then set in on reading what was sent to him after seeing it on his screen.

 _May 26, 4101, 1:25 PM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _Took five hearings, but I got what I wanted from that stir-fried nitwit of a nephew of yours. Even though he had cuffs placed on him, and was carted to Agraduz, he posted bail. A record for unnecessary assault was placed in his file, I presume that he'll have it for the rest of his life. Hope all is well on your end; haven't heard much from you on the boys, or on Angel and Eshal._

Vile should not of been allowed to post bail. With the assault that he paid on Amadh, he should of been thrown and then kept in jail for a while. Amadh had come very, very close to being crippled by his nephew; Vile had burned almost all of his suction cups from all of his fingers on the seventeenth of April—that, to him, should warrant more than what his nephew was given. If not for the plastic surgeon that his stepfather took his son to see, Amadh would still be in considerable pain. He would of also lost all chance of being able to work his father's farm, live a normal life, and use his powers. He was glad that his stepfather won his case; the one that he had against his nephew was still going on. He was warring his nephew in court on his assault of Lhaklar and Hazaar for weeks now and, so far, none of the courts were reaching a verdict that he was content with.

He pulled the keyboard out from under the phone's pull-out screen then started typing a response to his stepfather's text. With the exception of his leaving out most of how he and Guyunis were faring, he was truthful of what was happening on his end. It took five texts to get it all out. After sending the final text, he placed the phone back in its appropriate pocket then turned to look at his son and his friends.

"Two of them are, with a shadow of a doubt, twins." he thought after looking at the two identical youths.

The two boys had dark skin—the planet had a race of people on it that were commonly called Africans; the two boys sure resembled that race—and dark eyes. The one named Kiefer had his hair set in a "dreadlock" fashion, while his brother's was braided. Kiefer was wearing jeans, a blue t-shirt, and blue tennis shoes; while Killian was also wearing jeans, he had an orange and red shirt on over his top half and a pair of black sneakers on his feet. Kiefer and Killian Kassmeyer were a little over five foot, eleven inches tall; Lazeer had said something about their being fifteen years old.

Eli Mendelsohn, from what he was told, was six months older than the Kassmeyer twins. He had near bleach-white skin, black hair, and green eyes. Most curiously, he was wearing mascara and black lipstick; his fingernails were also black. He was wearing nothing but black—Lazeer had introduced him as his "Goth Friend", which seemed appropriate, considering his wardrobe. Of the three boys, Eli and Killian were the most shy while Kiefer was the most open-minded...and mouthed. He wondered for all of two seconds if that was how it was with twins—if one was more shy, or mouthy, than the other—before making the decision to go upstairs. The mail had come in twenty minutes late that afternoon; he had found himself as being quite surprised after finding two things for Bile and one thing for Lhaklar in it. The "girly" magazines were all given to Eshal; up to Angel's homecoming, she'd have them all to herself—he was glad to see that she was doing something other than "drawing" on them pillows that Bile found in one of the nearby dumps a few weeks ago. Even though Bile claimed to of cleaned them, he was still terrified of his daughter both having and being so infatuated with them.

A quick call to his wife was made after he retrieved the mail. A week and two days ago, he finally made the decision to rummage through her purse. Nothing more than a tan leather coin purse, a cellular phone, three pads—his wife was obviously experiencing that "Time of the Month" thing; he was quick in hiding them things from both his and the boys' eyes—, and a woman's brown leather wallet were found as being in it. Her cellular number was added to his directory about an hour after he sifted through her purse; he asked if it could be added and she responded with a yes. He couldn't help but be happy to of gotten such a swift response from her. According to his wife, Bile was eagerly awaiting two items that were sent in the mail last month. Lhaklar had sent out for some sort of car model about three weeks ago. With the three items in-hand, he went upstairs to personally see about delivering them to their rightful owners.

"No entry! I'm with my girlfriend; come back in an hour!" the oldest of his biological sons shouted after he reached and then knocked on his bedroom door.

"Very funny, Young Man." he said. The "girlfriend" thing, though still shocking to hear, was getting a little old now.

"Uh-uh! You're not allowed entrance, or to take my girl." his son, who now sounded to be directly behind the door, shouted.

"Something came in the mail for you today, son. Should I give it to you now or later?" he asked.

Bile exited his room right when the lock on Lhaklar's door was released. He gave his adopted son the items that he received in the mail then turned to address Lhaklar, who had a seemingly bright, I-Got-You look on his face. He gave his son a long, hard look before holding the thing that was in his hand out to him. His son took the box quickly; he was equally fast in both opening it and in taking the model that was in it out. According to the box, his son's new model was of a 1910 Ford Model "T"; his son, after seeing it, smiled.

"About damn time it came in." Lhaklar said.

"How many times a day do I need to tell you to watch what comes from—" he started to say.

"My mouth? Not sure, I don't keep track of things like that, and I can't really watch my mouth either. It's too low on my face to see." Lhaklar, who seemed to be acting a little on the smart-ass side, said.

Even though he knew he was going to have a time in correcting some of the habits that his sons had either picked up in doing or were allowed to do, he had a feeling that it was going to be Lhaklar and Hazaar who would give him the most headache after the move to Moas was done. Hazaar couldn't go around, toughing it out over just about everything or throwing tantrums or cursing his fool head off, and Lhaklar couldn't go around, running his mouth, or trying to be a smart-ass, either. Lhaklar would also have to drop the routine of thinking of himself as a "billy-badass", or as the one "in control" of all that went down under a roof, as well.

The "crossing of paths" thing seemed to be happening daily now. Lhaklar seemed to be taking advantage of his mother being either at work or busy at home—whenever he saw himself able to, or whenever the situation became "available" to him, he tried to take control of the house and everyone who lived in it. He didn't need to be told that the other boys were annoyed with Lhaklar's little habit—Hazaar and Lazeer would periodically snap, and tell their brother to "ball off" or leave them be, and Bile would do the periodic roll of the eyes thing whenever Lhaklar started in on him. Bile seemed a little more in control of himself around Lhaklar while Hazaar and Lazeer seemed to be a bit overly vocal in their annoyance over their brother's attempts to govern them. He had yet to see how Guyunis reacted to Lhaklar's attempted governing; Eshal had yet to be "targeted" by Lhaklar's little habit.

Lhaklar gave him a cheeky smile then returned to his bedroom. He, after seeing that the door was left open, and that his son had said nothing on whether or not he could come in, seized the initiative in going into the room.

"And a good example of my boy's seemingly annoying, immature ways just so happens to be hanging on the wall behind his bed." he thought after stepping into the room that his son slept and spent a considerable amount of time in.

The poster, that was above the bed, had a blonde-haired woman on it. Along with having very serious blue eyes, she was wearing a white shirt that barely covered her breasts. She was holding a shotgun towards the room; the caption, that was under her, said _All Who Enter Must Admit To Who The Boss Is In This House_.

An aluminum sign was to the right of the poster. It was a nice, black color; its borders were silver. The gold lettering, that was on it, said _I Have A Job—I'm Exempt From the Rules._ According to his wife, Lhaklar worked in one of the malls that were in the nearby city of Karlsruhe. While Lhaklar spent a lot of time outside of the house on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and while he was putting a considerable amount of paper money in the envelope that seemed to be reserved for the family funds, he had yet to discover what store it was that he worked in. The same went on what his hours were and what, exactly, he did when he was working. He had started to wonder fairly recently if his son's "job" wasn't being done somewhere else... Lhaklar had to be getting the revenue that he was bringing home from somewhere.

He looked at both items for only a second before shaking his head then looking at something else. It was the bed that he looked at next. Along with being under the poster and sign, it had a timber pine frame to it. It was up against the room's back wall. Like with the ones that were in Hazaar's and Lazeer's bedrooms, the one that was in Lhaklar's bedroom was big enough for one. The room's one window was just five inches from the bed's foot. A grayish-brown colored Bighorn sheep pelt, that had a white patch on its base or rump area, was lying across the bed's baseboard.

A half-charred, half-reclaimed pine wood stump was to the left of the bed. A plain, normal, white flexi lamp—the sort that one could bend in all sorts of directions or forms—was on its surface. A rather unique, water-filled alarm clock was beside it. There was a small bit of space between the stump-table and the top left corner, which was empty of any sort of shelving or wall decoration.

"Gramma Ashaklar would put you in a choke-hold for this." he said after noticing and then going towards the three foot tall, Gray crown crane that stood at the foot of the bed. The bird's main body was a mostly gray color, while its wings were mostly white. Its head had a crown of stiff, golden-colored feathers on it; the sides of its face were white. There was a red, inflatable throat patch on its throat. While the bill was slim and short, the legs, which were black, were long. The animal's feet were large, yet slender.

"She chokes her grandkids now? Thought she just squeeze-hugged us to death." Lhaklar said.

"She'll just about knock anyone over whenever an avian is seen." he replied.

This son of his had always had an interest in fishing. If he recalled correctly, Lhaklar, as a young toddler, had hounded him for days about taking him out on a boat so he could fish the ocean. If he wasn't available to do so, his son would turn his attention towards wanting to fish on a lake or river—back then, his son was restricted to twice weekly fishing excursions. Even though he hadn't seen his son fish as a teenager, he knew that he still enjoyed the activity. A prime example of this knowledge was being looked at now; a rather pretty fish, that had a multi-red and orange base color, that had lots of pink, purple, and black dots on it, was to the right of the room's window. This fish had a rather large mouth—he was automatically dumbstruck when he saw it had several, sharp teeth in its mouth! When he asked his son what it was, he received the response of it being a Coral Trout. A rather impressive Bezoar Ibex rack was under the Coral Trout; the super long horns, which were on a brightly polished piece of wood, curved almost all the way around. There were distinct ridges on both of them. He looked at the horns for only a second before moving on to looking at the poster that was beside them, and at the fish that was under them.

"Looks very normal..." he thought while looking at the poster.

The poster had a fisherman on it, who looked to be reeling in a seemingly large bass. The caption, that was under the man, said _A Fisherman Brings Home Wonderful Sea Tales; Both Of The True And Fake Sort. Can You Detect A Fisherman's Ruse?_ He knew right off the bat what the caption meant; people who came back with either a small catch or with nothing were very famous for telling tall-tales that would make their trip/experience seem more colorful or successful. He wasn't surprised over seeing that his son had a poster of this caliber in his room. Unlike the other poster, and the sign that was beside it, he was in full approval of it.

A timberland Cedar log dresser, that had six drawers on it, was to the right of the room. Another 30" flat screen tv was over it. A medium-sized King Mackerel, a fish that had an olive coloration on the back, that faded to a silver color, with rosy iridescence on the sides, that faded yet again to a white color on the belly, was mounted above the tv. This fish was quite streamlined; when he gave it a closer look, he saw that it, too, had a mouth of small, sharp teeth.

"Quite impressive Bison head you have here, son." he said after seeing the Bison head, that was to the right of the dresser and tv. The fur, that was around the animal's face, was coarse, shaggy, and light brown in color. The horns, that were on it, were of the slightly curved sort; they had a length of nearly two feet. While the specimen was impressive in itself, he was further impressed by how the wall was holding up against its weight—the head, alone, weighed a lot. "Find it somewhere?"

"Nope, that's from one of my hunts." his son replied.

"You're kidding me!" he said, dumbfounded.

"Nope, took that down in May of last year. Had a good ol' time in catching the animal. Returned to "camp" with a set of bloody arms... and with a punctured leg."

Hearing this piece of information alarmed him. Angel claimed to of trained the boys on how to hunt and she also claimed that they were exceptional hunters... Lhaklar's claim of being injured from one of his hunts seemed to contradict this. He made a mental note to not allow this son of his anywhere near any hunting equipment and he also made a mental note to dis-allow this son of his from being allowed to hunt after having him returned to Moas. It wouldn't look good on his parenting résumé if his son returned home from a hunt that he allowed him to partake in while being injured... nor would it do his son any good to return home being injured, or dead.

He pushed his alarm over his son's reported injuries to the side then went to look at the Bighorn sheep head that was on the other side of the dresser and tv. He found that it was just as impressive as the Bison head, and that it was being very well cared for. The head, that he was looking at, was a grayish-brown color; the horns, that were on it, were large and curved in a near perfect circle. The fur was very shiny; not a speck of dust was seen on it. The horns, likewise, were quite shiny; it looked like his son was taking very good care of this trophy.

There were two fish on the wall, near the room's bottom right corner. The first was decently-sized; it had irregular scales dotting all along its body. It's back and sides were an olive-green color, while its belly was off-white. Quite interestingly, its mouth had a sucker-like appearance to it; there were two, little barbels on either side of it. The second fish, which was on the room's front-facing wall, had four, tooth-like protrusions in its mouth. With the exception of the greenish color that was on its back, it was a bright, grayish-silver color. This fish was around twenty inches long; if he had to make any guesses, it weighed around ten or so pounds. Lhaklar claimed that the first fish was called a Mirror Carp; he claimed that the other was a Zander. He was quite surprised when his son said that they were caught on the eighth of November—his son didn't dispute him when he asked if they were caught before he was viciously attacked.

"These once belonged on a Barbary sheep, right?" he asked after seeing the fairly smooth, multi-curved horns that were above the door.

"Yeah. Caught three of them, but only thought about keeping the horns from one of them." Lhaklar answered. "Got grounded after catching them; mom's got a rule when it comes to us hunting. Unless we get permission to hunt an area that's a distance from home, we hunt the areas near home. No exceptions. I broke that rule; got two weeks in the hole."

And, if his son wasn't obeying the instructions that he was given on how to conduct his hunts, he definitely didn't need to be hunting. His son's claim put further emphasis on his placing his foot down on his not doing anymore hunting.

"What in the Universe is this!" he exclaimed after noticing the room's fifth-displayed, taxidermied fish.

"That's a Goliath Tiger Fish; it's commonly found in Africa. Caught that, and two others, in the Congo River." his son replied.

The fish, that was to the left of the bedroom door, was a large one—along with being two and a half feet long, it was stocky and heavy-looking. Its skin was a mixture of green, yellow, gray, and brown on top; the belly was white. Like with the Coral Trout and Zander, it had teeth in its mouth... but they were much more pronounced! It had, at least, two to two and a half inch long teeth in its mouth—that was warrant enough for him to give the animal more than a two minute stare.

A brown oak corner desk, with matching chair, was in the lower left corner. There were two shelves above it that had two mason jars, model paints, and glue on them. There were two, short shelves on the wall between the corner desk and closet; it looked like yet another interest that his son had when he was a young child was still on-going. His son, as a young child, didn't do the models that were still in his old chamber; he did them for him. Lhaklar was at his shoulder the entire time that he was putting them together.

There were a few car models on the shelves; he took his sweet time in looking at them.

The model, that was on the bottom shelf, was gold painted. It was based off the 1955 Chrysler ST Special Coupe... or the Luxury Chryon, which was, at one time, made and then distributed all over the Universe. The Luxury Chryon had a good, long run of nearly a hundred thousand years before dying down in hype. The next model that he looked at was of a 1902 Rambler Model C Runabout—he had heard many a tale about how his great-great grandfather, IackVile Uovo Surfeit, had loved this car; at one time in the man's life, he had a garage that housed around two or three of it. His great-great grandfather, who was so fond of this car, had forbade his two older sons—RosolVile Yilsivoor Surfeit and TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit—from going so much as a foot near them. Iack had a fancy for his preferred vehicle to be red; it just so happened that his son's model was that color. A silver and red 2012 Bufori MKIII La Joya was beside the Rambler; a vehicle that he had never seen before was beside it.

"What's this model of?" he asked his son.

"That's the Boothill Express—it's a type of custom-made, hearse-like vehicle. It was based off the 1850 horse-drawn funeral coach."

The last model that was on the shelf was a dark blue painted, 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T—this type of car was completely Earth-made and used; there were no other vehicles like it in the Universe. The shelf above had seven models on it... three, of which, were oddly placed. The light blue, 1952 Hudson Hornet was very finely made; this vehicle was, at one time, called the Ricorocket. His great-grandfather, RaalVile Dawlur Surfeit, was said to be a fan of this type of car. His great-grandfather was also said to of owned more than one of this type of car in his lifetime. A model that was based off, what he called, the ugliest vehicle known in existence, was beside the Hudson Hornet; the 1955 Buick Roadmaster was black and white painted... like the Dodge Challenger, it was a completely Earth-made and used vehicle. A model of a blue, but quite "rusty", "weathered" 1956 Chevy Nomad was beside the Buick model. He was surprised over seeing it—it stuck out like a sore thumb among the other models. A red painted model of a 1969 Ford Mustang was beside the "weathered" Chevy model... the ones that were beside it were the oddly-placed ones.

The movie Jaws was quite a sensation after its theatrical debut; Angel had "forced" him into watching it one day after Eshal, Bile, and Lhaklar were put down for a nap. He was, in a sense, on the fence about it; while he wasn't a fan of it, he was intrigued by it. It just so happened that his son had a model of Jaws attacking the shark hunter aka Quint on one of the shelves. A model of a green, alien girl, who had long ears, and was wearing a very skimpy, near see-through outfit, and who looked to be dancing with a chain, was beside the Jaws model; the model that was beside it looked to depict a slave girl, who, again, was wearing a very skimpy outfit. The slave girl was fighting off a giant snake, which his son painted a striped, red and green color.

He went towards the room's contemporary oak bookcase, that had five shelves on it, next. He was quick in seeing that his son's smaller hunting trophies were on it; he set to work in looking at them. At the time of his going towards the bookcase, his son was putting the pieces of his new model on his desk. It was very obvious that he was to build it soon.

"Like father, like fuckin' son!" he thought after seeing the sword that was on the bookcase's top shelf.

The sword, that he was looking at, had a heavy resemblance to his own—it was glass-like but, instead of the blade having gold dust floating in it, there was blue dye in it. There were holes all throughout the glass-like blade. The holes, that were on the grip and pommel, were small. The blade of his sword, a Moas Deep Special, was empty of both water and gold dust on the day of its purchase; after seeing a demonstration on how strong and durable it was, and then purchasing it, he took it home then filled it with both water and gold dust—the latter, of which, he got from the vault that was in his mansion. He wondered for all of two seconds if his son's sword was already filled or not with the water and dye that was in it before moving on to look at the contents that were on the second shelf.

A mini stereo and speakers, the likes that, yet again, resembled that of Hazaar's and Lazeer's own, were on this shelf. There were around twenty or so music discs, and a plethora of magazines, beside it.

For some reason, he was directed towards the fourth shelf of his son's bookcase next. The first item that he looked at was a preserved Meerkat; the small, Mongoose-like animal had a long, slender body and a face that tapered off, coming to a point at the nose, which was brown. The preserved animal's eyes were small, black, and crescent-shaped; they had black patches around them. The animal was a mostly peppered-gray color; it had four toes on the ends of each of its long, slender legs. A well-furred, rotund Hyrax, that had a short tail and red-brown fur, was beside the Meerkat. Quite surprisingly, there were three model cars beside the Hyrax—a silver-painted, Jaguar X150 DHC, that had a canopy-like roof on it; a blue and silver painted, 1935 Duesenberg SSJ, that had a tire mount on the trunk; and a blue-painted 1928 Mercedes-Benz SSK convertible, that also had a tire mount on its trunk.

The last shelf of the bookcase had three trophies on it. A preserved Mohol bushbaby, a small primate that had grayish-brown fur, that was lighter on the limbs and trunk, over-sized ears, and a long tail; a Shoebill, a mostly brown bird, that had an unusually large bill, that was mostly yellow with blue and black dots on it; and a Pardine Genet, an animal that had a long, lean and slender body that had a series of dark spots and stripes over a near-white coat. After looking at that shelf, he directed his eyes towards the one that he found himself as not being able to look at.

"One of the maids, nearly a year ago, said that my library was lacking some of its usually kept books." he said after seeing that the third shelf had ten books on it... five, of which, were the ones that were noted as being missing.

Anger, the type that made a being feel ten degrees hotter, roared all throughout his body after he saw the books that were on the shelf. While true, he would much prefer for his sons to not steal from anyone, he didn't like the idea of Lhaklar running off with the books that he just found in his possession. He could look past Karvok Vorgrek's The Art of the Run, and Shaha Sajuni's Acidic Advancement and Zetakin Race Powers and Abilities, and Homami Zonsa's History of the Universe, but he couldn't look past him having Glethov Wystak's Time Warp and Other Specialty Powers.

Lhaklar was seen as using the Time Warp ability on the eighth of April; he came close to having a heart attack after learning that he used that ability... He had worried for days on whether or not his son had gotten stuck while in transit from the three locations that he wanted to go to. It looked like the source of what was behind his son's one-time noted use of the ability was found; he took the book that was authored by Glethov Wystak from the shelf, said the spell that sent it back to his place, then took a deep breath in.

There was nothing abnormal about the other things that were on the shelf. Henry Gregston's 1000 Years of Classic Cars looked to be a book on nothing but cars; William Drewel's Wiley's Book of Fish Records looked to be a book that cataloged the records of the fish that were caught over a period of time; Willis Robert's Fishermen Tales Volume 2 looked to be a book that cataloged specific tales that fishermen were known to make after returning from their fishing excursions; and Feo Armandt's Gone Fins: The Fish That No Longer Exist looked to be a book that cataloged the fish that were no longer found on the planet. The red-spined book, that was beside Gone Fins: The Fish That No Longer Exist, had no title on it. There was a brown wood stand just before all of these books; his son's wand was resting rather nicely on it. A knife that had a twisted blade on it was to the left of the wand while, to the wand's left, was a green glass throwing knife, that had an Eagle's head for the pommel.

"Lhaklar..." he said after taking that deep breath in then feeling his body temperature drop a few degrees.

"Yeah?"

"Do daddy a favor and forget all that you've read in Glethov Wystak's Time Warp and Other Specialty Powers please." he said.

With his father going around, looking into this room and that room, and poking and prodding for every little detail on his and his brothers' lives, he should of known to be prepared for him to check into his room. Instead of leaving certain items in the spots that they were placed on after they were given to him—the mostly pornographic in origin book that he got from Hazaar last Christmas, and two of his posters and the one sign, for example—, he should of taken them down or said a spell that'd make them not be seen by anyone of the adult, male gender. Instead of doing that, he left everything where it was. His father had already taken note of his having some of the books that he took from his library and, as expected, he saw his posters and the sign. While his father didn't say anything on the one poster and sign, he did say—and do—something that referred to the one that was on the closet door.

He and his brothers were "testing" the waters with the man for the last few days. Like with the old man, they knew nothing about him; they had seen to "testing" him out on a few areas soon after he was given "permission" to act "paternal" with Guyunis. They knew that Lazeer's friends coming over without a forewarning was a sort of test, and they also knew that Hazaar's and Guyunis's "fight" in the hallway was also a test. His joking around about his having a girlfriend in his room was also a sort of test. Bile had also given the man a sort of test in the room that their mother continued to call the "Son Cave". The man had just about dropped dead from a brain aneurysm after Bile started lifting weights—even though Bile had considerable difficulty in lifting anything that was over a hundred and twenty pounds, he could lift a ninety and a hundred pound weight with ease; Bile had just started lifting a hundred and five pound weight when the man's egg was laid. Bile was ordered to put the weight down; when the order wasn't adhered, the man rushed over. The weight was taken from Bile's grasp and then sent to some area that none of them knew of. The spare fifty pound weights were also sent to some undisclosed location. They had just the twenty to thirty pound weights to work with now.

His father took one look at the poster that was on the back of his closet door before stomping over. The poster, which had a green-eyed, blonde-haired woman, who's hair was partially braided, on it, was swiftly taken down. Even though the poster's model was wearing absolutely nothing, nothing could really be seen on her. Oh, her legs were spread just a bit, and her ass could be seen, and, owing to them arms of hers, which were holding her top half up just a bit, a little bit of her pink-colored nipples could be seen... everything was mostly concealed on her, though. There was really no reason to get antsy over the poster at all. His father took it down, then said the spell that'd make it become flimsy, then rolled it up before turning to leave the room; he intercepted him just before he could reach the door.

"Don't start it with me, Lhaklar." his father said in a warning tone. "There's—"

"Mom's come into this room plenty of times; she's seen that poster and—" he started to say.

"Step out of the way, Lhaklar. There's no way in hell that I'll believe that she's seen and then allowed for you to have a poster that has a naked woman on it." his father said.

The poster being taken from him wasn't really what got to him; it was his father saying that he didn't care if his mother gave him permission or allowed him to have or display it in his room that got his blood boiling. He placed his hand on his father's arm; intending only to get his attention, and then to tell him to not speak of his mother—who he honestly regarded with a whole lot more respect—like he just did. He found himself cringing, and then shrinking back, right after his hand was placed on the man. His father turned on a dime; his broken, left arm was in his clutches. He could almost feel the fracture lines singing and then bursting free from their set-to places.

"Do not disrespect me, Lhaklar." his father snarled, then released him.

The anger that suddenly filled him was zapped right out of his system after his father held the poster to the side. Flames, as red and hot as can be, engulfed the paper and the cardboard that it was taped to. His father brushed his hands together after torching the poster then said that he was grounded for a week; after doing them two things, he shot his hand towards his corner desk. All of the pieces and parts of his 1910 Ford Model "T" disappeared from where they were; where they went, or what his father did with them, he didn't know.

After his father left the room, he did the only thing that he could think of doing. He raced forward, towards the door, then grabbed and slammed it shut. He then locked it. After doing them things, he collected the ashes of his poster; with there being a little over an hour before his mother came home, he set himself down to listening to some music—if his model was still on his desk, he would of done it while waiting for her to come home. While listening to Ray Charles, then Michael Jackson, then Diana Ross and the Supremes, he worked on calming himself. He also made up a battle plan on what he was going to do after getting his model back.

He had just finished making the decision to paint his model a dark green color when the horn of his mother's car was heard; while he didn't so much as leap from his bed, he did get up quickly. He went to his still-closed and locked bedroom door, opened it, then left his room. Bile was leaving his room at the same time; he grabbed him by the arm then asked if he could put a bug in their mother's ear about his wanting to see and speak with her. His brother asked no questions on why he was making such a request. He just said that he'd pass the word along before going on his way. He went back to his room after asking his brother to get their mother's attention for him.

"I apologize, mom. I don't mean to throw things at you right after you've come home from work." he thought as he went to examine his still badly throbbing and hurting arm.


	8. Chapter 8

She was big on thinking that days like today, where little to no issues were encountered, were like a needle in a haystack. Like every other working being, she relished in them and hoped that they'd happen more frequently.

Like anyone else who worked for a living, most of her day was spent in her workplace. She was stationed in the deli; if she wasn't filling orders, she was standing idly by, waiting for someone to come over to look at or make an order of what was available. The last thirty to forty minutes of her day were spent either mopping the floors or listing what needed to be restocked on certain shelves. With that day being so easy and pleasant for her, she made the decision to pick up three of U-Krop-It's "famous" deli pizzas, a few things of Mozzarella sticks, and six containers of dipping sauce; the boys, who were still dealing with their demons over their father being in the building, did need something to cool them down. She saw nothing wrong in treating them to a meal that wasn't homemade.

"The habit of me honking my horn when I'm close to home started after I saw the boys' little activity of watching me go to work." she thought while parking her car under the carport.

Each morning, after she shoved off for work, her sons either lined up or "piled" on one another before the living room windows. She didn't mind that they did this; she saw it as something that a child, who was close to their parent or parents, would do. It was very normal and she had never stopped them from doing it—she had made a point to Tazir about his leaving the boys be after they did their activity before the two windows that were in the living room. Even though she and Eshal were close, she had yet to see her perform this activity. She figured that her adopted daughter was either staying back because of Guyunis or of wanting to retain a bit of maturity.

After parking her car, she withdrew the key from the ignition then went to get out. Before leaving the vehicle, she reached over to where the pizzas, Mozzarella sticks, and dipping sauce containers were. She picked the items that were on the front passenger seat up then got out of her car; while she wasn't surprised over her husband's seemingly swift exit of the house, or of his greeting her after she reached the porch, she was surprised over not seeing her sons. While her sons were a respectful bunch, and didn't hound her the second she got in the door, they did like to play "gang-up" on the door after she came in from work from time to time. Anything that she had on her—plastic or paper bags full of stuff that she purchased on the splurge, or large food items that she brought home from her job—would be taken from her arms. Her sons would then insist on her heading upstairs to both change and rest up. She would usually make a trip to the kitchen before doing that; a small snack would be eaten, some small talk would happen between her and Tazir, and then Eshal, then she'd head up to do as they wanted her to.

"Beginning to wonder what you do at work, Angel." her husband said after she reached the door that he was holding open for her.

"Do we need to go through this again, Tazzy?" she asked him. "I do nothing other than what I'm suppose to do while at work—fill deli orders, check the inventory on shelves, restock the shelves that need restocking, mop and sweep floors, and work the cash register."

"And yet, when you come home, you're up to your elbows in something that you've decided to—" TazirVile started to say. One of the neighbors—a man by the name of Almeric Carver, who lived two doors up from them—was just leaving his vehicle when he was interrupted.

"Is there anything wrong with me bringing things back for my family, Tazir?" Angel asked. She went past him right when Mr. Carver noticed her husband's posture—Tazir was both annoyed and angry and the man was able to see this.

She went into the house then shot straight to the dining room/kitchen area. The pizzas were swiftly placed in the oven, while the Mozzarella sticks and dipping sauce containers were placed in the microwave. With those items squared away, she went back to where the living room was; she saw something while on the way to the kitchen that she wanted to check into. While she and her husband were quiet when they passed by one another, they didn't keep their hands to themselves—with her husband acting a little on the non-trusting side with her, she started throwing him her purse each day after she came in from work. She didn't slow up or blink an eye when she slid him her purse or when she continued on her way past him.

In her eyes, she had nothing to hide or be ashamed of. Her action was purely done as a way to put him at ease over what she did while away from home. Normally, Tazir would just look at the bag before placing it down on the dining room table; from time to time, he would rummage through it.

On this particular day, he meant to just put the bag on the table. His intention changed right after he heard her cellular go off. While she checked into the situation that was going on in the living room, he took her phone from her purse then checked to see who it was that was calling.

"Well now, hello there." Angel said to the three boys, who looked to be playing a card game with her youngest son. Right when she was going over to see how the boys were faring, TazirVile was pressing the button that'd block that number that was calling her phone... a number which just so happened to belong to Mr. Ajeet Mahatma Ballal, who was a friend of hers.

"Hi, ma." Lazeer, who sometimes used ma and mama with her, said after she reached his side. It looked like the cards that he was holding were mostly dominated by eight's, four's, and two's; there was a single jack and an ace among them too.

"Miss. Irene," Eli Mendelsohn, who looked to have a near-full house in the set of cards that he was holding, said.

"Hi," the Kassmeyer twins, Kiefer looking to not have anything of interest in his set of cards while Killian looking to possess a near-complete flush in his, said in unison.

"How long have you three been here?" Angel asked.

"Few hours, ma'am." Eli replied.

"My bruder and I brought some board games over; we've been playing them for nearly three hours now. Eli's the one who brought the cards." Kiefer said.

"Thought we'd play a few hands before going home." Killian said.

"Lazeer, you make sure to lead your friends to the kitchen before they shove off for home. Have them get a few cookies each, okay?" Angel said.

"Okay," Lazeer said.

"Miss. Irene," Eli said. She turned to look at him at once. "I don't mean to sound offending but, none of the cookies that you've offered have coconuts in them, right?"

"No, there's just chocolate chip and sugar cookies in the cookie jar." Angel replied. Eli turned then gave her a wide smile... which she couldn't help but not return.

Unless her children were being punished, or one or more were sick, she had never said no to them in their having their friends over. While she had only seen some of her sons' friends once or twice, she knew that they were a good crowd; she was happy with what her sons befriended. She saw nothing wrong in Eli Mendelsohn being a Goth and she had nothing against her youngest son befriending folk of the African race. The same went in him befriending anyone who was open-minded or "mouthy".

Kiefer and Killian Kassmeyer were a very nice and polite bunch and so was Eli, who did seem to have a shy side to himelf. From what Lazeer had told her, Kiefer and Killian lived with their grandparents—their real parents had lost custody of them, and their older sister, about eight years ago. The twins' parents hadn't been trying to stir clear of their old cocaine habits; they sold just about everything that they owned to get a taste of that horrid drug and they also abandoned their kids. Kiefer and Killian's grandparents had stepped up to the plate in raising them and their sister—the latter, from what she was told, was currently enrolled in the Heidelberg University School of Medicine. Miss. Kassmeyer was hoping to become a nurse in the near future.

Eli Mendelsohn, and his older brother and younger sister, lived with his father; the boy's mother was another drug user who made the decision to abandon her children for the drugs that she was addicted to. Eli's mother was currently in a medical institute; the drugs had, sadly, done their job in destroying her mind and body.

She left her son with his friends after noticing how content they were, and after seeing that nothing amiss was going on with them. With the pizzas, Mozzarella sticks, and dipping sauce all squared away until later, and with Tazir looking to be busy with her purse, she went upstairs to change into something more comfortable. While on the way up the stairs, she glanced at the many photographs that were on the walls.

"Most, if not all, are of the boys from when they were doing their school-run sports activities." she thought.

Of her five sons, Bile was the fastest. He had sure made a name for himself during his tenure at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic; there were a total of four photographs of him and his record-smashing track runs on the walls that were on either side of the stairs.

The first was of his mile-run. He was "flashing" by the finish line; her son had smashed the old record, which was 2:06:54, and set by his own father, during that run. The new record of 1:48:12 was said to be untouchable. Bile was sure proud of himself on that day, and the photograph emphasized that to perfection. Bile's arms were held up; he started celebrating right after crossing the finish line. Even though her hair was dyed a different color, she was there to cheer him on. His brothers were also there to support and cheer him on.

The second photograph was of Bile's mile and a quarter run. Her—and Bile's—grandfather had set the old record over a hundred and fifty thousand years ago. The old record, which was set at 2:21:09, was smashed to bits by her son, who didn't have a single problem in running on the track's hard surface. Unlike the first photograph, where her son was throwing his arms up after crossing the finish line, her son was just punching one of his arms out. His head was also bowed low. Her son's record of 2:00:45 was also said to be untouchable.

The third photograph was of her son's mile and a half run. Her—and Bile's—uncle, TriskullVile Vuupipii Surfeit, had set the old record, which was 2:25:12. It was overcast on the day of this run, and the track was wet and a little slippery. Her son had encountered a mild issue at the start, but he persevered. If she recalled correctly, she and Lhaklar came close to squishing Hazaar and Lazeer between themselves after Bile went past the finish line; Guyunis had, sadly, not been with them at the time that them four track records were made.

The fourth photograph was of her son's two mile run. Unlike the other meets, Bile encountered a few issues with this one... and he also came very close to being taken to the school's medical ward too. She remembered it very well; it was very sunny on the day of this run, and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Bile had done his usual in not stretching his arms or legs before the race's start. The only one of the eleven runners who was said to be a threat to her son was Idgor Chiriann—an Apsid, who had crystal white fur; sharp, overlapping teeth; and very red eyes. Despite the threat of Idgor, her son went on to win the meet. He surged to the front, where he stayed. No one had come close to him. Her son was dog-tired after finishing this run... so much so that he collapsed after crossing the finish line. A ring of teachers and students had formed around him right after he collapsed; she had found herself as having to push by everyone to get to him.

"Air!" she remembered her son saying. "My lungs are on fire! I need air!"

"Get back! Give him some space and air!" she remembered herself, and her son's couch—a Goblin-woman by the name of Kiafi Fiagie, who had long, cream-colored hair, black eyes, and light brown skin—, yelling.

It took her son all of five minutes before feeling well enough to sit up and then stand. Everyone sent up a chorus of cheers after he got to his feet. From what she was told, Trobrencus's older brother, RosolVile Yilsivoor Surfeit, was the one who set the old record of 2:48:54. Her son had set that record back by over ten seconds. It now stood at 2:36:34; like her son's other records, it was said to be untouchable.

"Hazaar didn't have an interest in running track, and Lazeer wasn't able to run track because of his sensitive eye." she thought as she stopped to look at the other photographs that were on the walls. "Lazeer had a big interest in Mechanical things; he asked and I provided the funds for him to be enrolled in the school's Mechanics courses. Hazaar had an interest in music; he spent all of fifty years of his two hundred year tutelage in the Pronghorn Band."

Not only was Bile an outstanding runner in his track meets but he was also a very good Wrestler. The funds for his after-school Wrestling activities were paid after his two-mile run; for the following five years, he made himself a new name. Her oldest son was Wrestling Champ for five years before dropping out of that interest to focus on his studies. Like any other good parent, she had a few photographs on the walls of his Wrestling meets. The one that she was looking at now had Lazeer in it; her youngest son was involved in a few school-run Mechanics contests and competitions. He won all but two of them. The photograph that she was looking at showed her son holding a blue and gold ribbon up; he had just won a contest on who could repair the engine of an old vehicle the fastest.

Here were two photographs of Lhaklar's track runs. While her secondborn son wasn't as fast as Bile, he still set some "minor" records—all of which were placed during his tenure at the University of Telepathy. The photograph of Lhaklar setting his record for the mile and an eighth had an overcast sky in it; rain had just started to fall after he crossed the wire. His record on that run was set at 2:12:13—the old record, which was set some fifty years earlier by a young fellow by the name of Quagan Zahapor, was 2:18:09. The next photograph was half-overcast; the wind was howling, and it was cold, but she still insisted on being there to cheer her son on. Lhaklar's two and a half mile run was a long and grueling one for him; as far as she knew, the record of 3:55:09 was still in place. Ironically, Lhaklar had beat his father's old-made record, which stood at 4:15:34.

"Guyunis came _very_ close to breaking Bile's mile and mile and a quarter records." she came close to saying. "He was just five or so seconds from tying them."

While not as fast as Bile, her adopted son was still fast... he proved this after the first fifty years of his tutelage in Goboshu's Academy of Meanness. Each time her son set foot on a track, he came close to shattering, or shattered, either a previously made record or a record that was made some thousands or hundreds of thousands of years ago. Here was a photograph of Guyunis's two-mile and three-sixteenths run; if she recalled correctly, the race was both long and run on grass. The old record, which was made by Trobrencus's young son, Bohir, had stood at 3:03:54; her son had set it back to 2:53:53.

Here was a photograph of Guyunis's two-mile and a quarter run; it was another of her son's long, grueling races. Even though it was run over snythetic dirt, her son still had a little issue at its start. The old record, which was set over four hundred years ago by some fellow named Crazan Duplaxen, was 3:20:04; her son had smashed it to bits. It was currently set at a nice 3:11:34.

The next photograph was of her adopted son's three mile run—which, if she recalled correctly, was run over synthetic dirt, grass, and water. Her adopted son's great-uncle, TrobrencusVile Bloym Surfeit, was the one who set the old record. The old record was 3:41:09; the new one currently sat at 3:26:56. Guyunis, despite being dog-tired at the race's conclusion, had managed to stay on his feet. Barely, that was.

Guyunis had a total of six track records at Goboshu's Academy of Meanness. Like Bile's records at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, they were all said to be untouchable.

"And, of course, the graduation photos." she said after turning to look at the photographs that were on the wall behind her.

Bile looked very stylin' in the robe that he wore on the day of his graduation from Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic. There were two pins on the left side of his robe, which was black, and had a black and yellow collar on it; her son had earned them for his academic achievements. The three medals, that he was wearing around his neck, were for his Alchemist achievements. Bile, who, at the time, was lacking one of his canine teeth, was giving an awkward smile in the photograph.

Lhaklar looked a little funny in his Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic robe. He had a 3.6 grade point average while at the school; the red pin, that he was wearing on his left shoulder, was given to him because of that grade point average. The green and silver rope, that was around the right shoulder of his robe, had come from his being on the Honor Roll more than twelve times during his tenure at the school. The robe that he was wearing was meant to be worn by one who was under six feet tall—even after putting in a request for a longer one, the school insisted on his wearing the one that he was given. Even as a young teenager, Lhaklar was tall; the robe that he was wearing went barely halfway down to the lower portion of his legs.

Hazaar was all smiles in his graduation picture. He had a scroll and plaque in his hands—both were awarded to him for his talents in music. Hazaar's robe had no pins, ribbons, or ropes on it; it was worn plainly—with the exception of his being involved in the school's band, he wasn't apart of any of the school's clubs or activities.

The next photograph had Lazeer in it. Her youngest son's robe was quite brightly decorated. There were three ropes—a silver, a black and silver, and a red, gold, and white—hanging from its right shoulder. Her son had earned those through his activities in the school's Potions, Mechanics, and Math clubs.

Guyunis had tried to shy himself out of being photographed; after the graduation ceremony ended, he tried to hide in the bathroom... away from her, and her camera lens. His Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic robe had a gold rope on its right shoulder; there were a series of red, orange, yellow, and green ribbons on its left side. Her son had earned the rope from his activities in the school's Biology club; the ribbons were earned from his activities in the school's Chemist club.

The next four photographs were positioned above the other ones. The one that she looked at first was of Lhaklar, who just got through graduating from the University of Telepathy. Her son's blue robe, which had a silver collar on it, was appropriately sized for him; he had a series of ropes—a black, a lime green, a silver and yellow, and a light blue—around his right shoulder. He had earned those from his activities in the school's Chess and Botany clubs. Her son was a little on the excited side that day; after finding, and then catching up to him, she had a time in getting him to stand still so she could take his picture.

The following photograph had Hazaar in it. Hazaar, who just graduated from the University of Telepathy, was wearing a plain robe. He wasn't really involved in any of the school's clubs or activities. The next photograph had Lazeer in it; he, Lhaklar, and Hazaar had attended and graduated from the University of Telepathy at the same time. Lazeer's robe had two ropes on it—a red and gold and a green and black. He got them from his activities in the school's Acidic and Telekinetic-based clubs.

"Guyunis's... ticky, tacky robe is still in storage. Been meaning to ask him if he wants it back." she thought as she looked at the wall's final photograph.

Two weeks before his graduation occurred, Guyunis was given the most outlandishly tacky robe that she had ever seen in her life. Guyunis was a thin kid at the time of his enrollment at Goboshu's Academy of Meanness; he was no more than five foot, eight inches and weighed no more than a hundred and thirty-five pounds. The school, regardless of knowing this, had given him a robe that was too big and long for him to wear; even after expressing his dislike for the garment, and expressing a want for a shorter and thinner robe, the school had insisted on his wearing it. She had spent the better part of a week in trying to "fix" the thing after the school refused to give him a better one.

The robe, which was a moss green color, had a ridiculously long, cape-like hood on its back. The hood was nearly four feet long. It was a little darker green color than the rest of the garment; its interior was satin while its velvet trim was gold. Even after putting a week in on fixing the thing, it was still an inch to an inch and a half too long for her son. Guyunis had come close to tripping while going to the podium to retrieve his diploma... twice!

Guyunis had four ropes around the right shoulder of his robe—a dull gold, a lime green and scarlet red, a dull gray and silver, and a navy blue. Most of them had come from his activities in the school's "meanness" programs and clubs; the navy blue and the lime green and scarlet red rope had come from his involvement in the school's fitness programs. Despite the issues with the robe, Guyunis was happy on that day. His dark face was all lit up, thanks to the bright smile that he was giving.

"I insisted on my boys having a full education at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, and I never kept them from going to further schools." she thought as she went towards her bedroom. "I only have a half-education at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic... I wanted my boys to have a full education at the school, and I made sure that happened by—"

"Ma,"

With the knowledge of his father's assault on Guyunis heavy on his mind, he made the decision to see how his brother was faring. The second he entered the room that his brother shyly picked out for himself on the final day of July 4100, he knew that things weren't peachy-fine in his world; Guyunis was a mess, point blank. The second he stepped into the room, he knew that he would be needed for a while. Guyunis was a blubbering, shivering mess; while better now, he was still not one hundred percent himself. Being grabbed, and then restrained, and then pushed by a man that he was both afraid of and didn't trust had set off another regression; the kid, who had slowly progressed to being ninety-five percent himself over the last few weeks, had reverted to being what he was at the start of the month.

He had started worrying about this happening after learning about the conversation that his parents had on the twenty-first of May. Guyunis didn't know TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit; he didn't trust or want him anywhere near him... his mother should of known this and should of said no to his father's question on whether he could act in a paternal way towards his brother. Hazaar's little "test" had gone off horribly—instead of using his words to calm Guyunis down, his father was physical with him and, from what he could tell, he didn't just go after Guyunis. Lhaklar, about an hour and a half ago, had looked a bit... upset. And pained. Lhaklar had used his broken left arm to grab him with; his younger brother's face had pinched in after that happened. The request that came from him was shaky and emotion-filled; that alone was enough to tell him that something had happened between Lhaklar and their famous old man.

Soon after hearing the horn of their mother's car horn being blasted, he readied himself. The door to Guyunis's bedroom was unlocked; he stood by it. After hearing someone going down the hall, he left the room; the room that he spent the better part of an hour and a half in was all locked up now. The only way that he could get in was by knocking and then expressing who he was.

"Bile?" his mother, who had since turned to face him, said.

"Think something happened between Lhaklar and dad today," Bile said. "Lhaklar requested to see you."

She felt her good, no-issue day slipping right then and there. Even though she preferred for her sons to not throw the day's bad events at her, she did like for any and all events that could or were detrimental to their well-being or healths to be relayed to her. Bile looked so serious when he told her that Lhaklar wanted to see her... While she had a feeling that he, too, wanted to see and speak with her on something, she felt that he also wanted her to see Lhaklar first.

She nodded her head, then said that she'll go over to see him now, then went across the hall. Thanks to their residing in the house for nearly ten months, she knew the layout well. The room that was across from her own was Lhaklar's; Hazaar's was on his left while Lazeer's was on his right. Eshal's room was beside Lazeer's. The spare room was across from Eshal's, while Bile's was beside it. Her room was beside her oldest son's while Guyunis's was beside hers. The upstairs closet was "attached" to Guyunis's room; the bathroom, which was between Eshal's room and the spare room, was across from the stairs. She stepped up to Lhaklar's bedroom door, knocked on it lightly, then voiced who it was that was on its other side. Bile, she noted, went back to Guyunis's room—she took note that he had to knock and then voice who he was before being let in.

"Should of known that something occurred during my absence." she thought while waiting for her son to admit her to his room. "Tazir wasn't himself when I came in, and my sons, and Eshal, didn't do their usual in saying hello or in trying to claim what I had in my arms."

The lock on her son's bedroom door was undone, then the knob was twisted. When the door was opened just a smidge, she knew that something was very wrong. She went into the room, then closed the door behind her, then turned to address her son; the sight of his splint-less arm caused her throat to close up right after she did so. The words that she wanted to say didn't come out. She just gawked at the state of her son's arm.

The arm's ulna and radius were severely fractured on the twenty-third of December. Her husband was the one behind the break. Lhaklar, who was in an Eagle form at the time, had swooped down to attack his father, who was trying to capture Hazaar and, presumably, hurt or kill Ajeet Ballal, who was with Hazaar. Stefan Leinart, Ajeet Ballal, a man by the name of Hans Seiderman, and Hazaar had just barely made it to the shield that was over the town of Hennigsdorf; Lhaklar had sacrificed himself to ensure that they got to it... while he was still alive, and healthy, he had sustained a few injuries. Her son's arm was still tender to that day, but it was healing... or, at least it was. It looked like something had happened to him and, furthermore, it looked like his room was lacking one of its posters.

"M-mo-oh-m." Lhaklar, who seemed to be in considerable pain, said.

"What happened to your arm, Lhakie?"

Her son was standing before his bed; she had no more asked her question before he collapsed to it. She went to him then, gently, and very carefully, examined his swollen arm... which, she was quick to note, was starting to bruise around where the two fracture points were. Lhaklar placed his head on her shoulder; he allowed her to examine him, and to deduce, to some extent, what happened to him, before starting in on a tale that made her blood slow to a bare trickle. Her face became set like an angry stone after he started relaying the afternoon's events.

Tazir, her husband, and the biological father of four of her six children, had a good ol' time in shaking two of her sons up. Lhaklar said that he came up to stop Hazaar and Guyunis from fighting; instead of using his words to calm Guyunis down, he grabbed him by the wrist then placed him in a headlock before pushing him back. Tazir then went into her secondborn's room; he looked around, spoke a few times, then got rip-roaring mad after noticing the poster that her son had purchased and then put on the back of his closet on the first of August.

Lhaklar's poster was taken down and then rolled up. Tazir had said some very disrespectful things in regards to her allowing her sons to display posters that showed off their sexuality before going to leave the room. Lhaklar claimed to of grabbed him with the sole intent of telling him to not talk of her like that. Tazir, in response to being grabbed, had turned around; her son's arm, which was, without a shred of a doubt, re-broken, was grabbed and then squeezed. The poster—the ashes, of which, were all nicely aligned on her son's desk—was destroyed right in front of her son's eyes then the model that her son sent out for in the mail a few weeks ago was "confiscated". Tazir grounded her son for a week after the poster was destroyed.

Her son, after relaying all of this to her, stood then went towards his bookcase. He grabbed his wand from its stand then started to act like he was going to use it—like he was going to remove the memory of what trangressed between he and his father from its slot in his brain then show it to her. She went to him right after the wand was removed from its stand.

"Calm down, sweetie. I believe you. You don't have to show me what happened between you and that nit." she said. She took the wand from her son's hand, then placed it back on her son's bookcase, then returned to her son. Lhaklar, right then and there, started getting emotional.

"I-I-I sent the b-b-books that I took f-fr-from dad's library back to wh-where they be-belong, mom. After what hah-happened, and then noticing what h-h-h-he did to m-my arm, I couldn't k-keep them here." her son sobbed. She grabbed then held him close; with the exception of his getting injuries that he couldn't handle, or events that he wasn't emotionally mature in handling, she had never seen him get this upset before. Even though Lhaklar wouldn't admit it, she knew that he was given a good scare. That made her become even more infuriated—parents should never instill fear on their children!

"Don't blame you, honey." Angel said.

She spent all of an hour comforting, and telling her son that it was okay. When she felt that he was a little more in control of himself, she gave him a set of instructions. The first focused on his arm, which, along with growing more bruised with each passing minute, had swelled to twice its size. Her son followed her from his room, then down the hall to where the upstairs bathroom was; a five minute healing session, where her son's arm was mended or healed to the state that it was in before it was assaulted, was done. After the healing session was done, she told him to fill the tub about a quarter of the way with water; her son was to make himself a copy of the poster that was destroyed.

"I don't have any cardboard, mom." Lhaklar said.

"You let me worry about that now. You just fill that tub then use your Telepathy and Elemental powers to make yourself a new poster." Angel said.

The next two instructions were really quite simple: Lhaklar was to forget about being grounded and he was to wait in his room until she came back from dealing with Mr. Mean. The were no if's, might's, or maybe's about his model being returned to him—her son _would_ get his model back and he _would_ be allowed to build it. With the set of instructions in place, and her son's broken arm returned to the way it was before being assaulted, she went to her room. She took the pair of black pants and the black, long sleeve blouse that she was wearing off, then placed a simple, green t-shirt and a pair of normal blue jeans on before leaving the room. She went straight to the dining room, and then kitchen, afterwards. The broom was taken from the closet, then placed out of view, right after she entered the adjoined rooms.

It didn't take long before the one that her anger was about to be released on entered the room. She let Tazir get within close distance of her before grabbing and then swinging the broom.

"What the hell!" TazirVile yelled after the straw-end of the broom slapped his side and back.

"Either you've lost your fuckin' mind or you've decided to forgo the promise that you forged in how discipline was to be given to our offspring!" Angel snapped as she drove her husband towards the dining room.

"What the hell are you talking about, Angel!" TazirVile came deathly close to grabbing the broom. Angel swiped it to the side then whacked him a good melody of times before stopping. By the time she stopped using it to "discipline" him with, he was in one of the dining room corners.

"First off, how _dare_ you _place_ wrong finger on Guyunis. That boy is morbidly afraid of you, and doesn't trust you, yet, here _I_ am, being told that _you_ , who asked for permission to act like a daddy to him, _grabbed_ him _by_ the _wrist_ and then _placed_ him in a headlock before _shoving_ him. That isn't being a daddy to that boy! That is _you_ acting _like_ your _own_ father!" Angel came near to shrieking.

"With his coming at me like he w—" TazirVile started to say. The broom came very close to striking his groin; he zipped his mouth shut then shot his hand forward. He "fizzled" out as he used a small bit of his Time Warp ability; Angel, regardless of the ability's use, retained the possession of the broom by yanking it out of his area.

"I don't rightly care. You're a grown man, Guyunis is a boy. You could well of broken his wrist by grabbing him like that—you could of broken his neck after putting him in a headlock as well!" Angel said. "And with you knowing the history that he has, you should feel double ashamed of yourself for even fathoming the idea of laying wrong hand on him."

"So what was I suppose to do after he started coming at me, acting like he was going to hit me?" TazirVile asked.

"Back away, that's what you should of done! Instead of getting in his space, freaking him out, and putting unneeded stress on his shoulders, you should of backed away."

"I suppose that, when he kills or severely injures someone, you'll say the same thing?"

Eshal, who, for the last two minutes, was watching the crazy spectacle of her mother brandishing a broom at her father, couldn't really believe what she was seeing. While there were times where her mother had used her hands, or some house-hold item, on her father in a threatening or disciplinary way, she had never really seen her get this angry at him before. It scared her a little but, in a lot of ways, she understood what was going on. She had heard all of what her mother had said; her father was caught red-handed in doing something that he shouldn't of done and, in a lot of ways, her mother was punishing him for it. Eshal looked at her parents for thirty more seconds before turning to go back upstairs. She stopped just before Guyunis's room after reaching the second level; she gave it a good consideration about knocking and then speaking to the boy that was on the door's other side before deciding to go to her room.

If she stayed downstairs, she would of heard the rest of the reason behind her mother's richly gotten anger. At the time of her father's assault on Guyunis, she was napping, and, when her father went into her brother's bedroom, she was playing with the nifty pillows that Bile found and then brought home from the dump on the fifth of May while also listening to some music—she didn't really know anything of what happened in the house thanks to them activities of hers. If she knew about what her father did to Lhaklar, she would of also put into consideration about going to talk to him.

Eshal was going into her bedroom at the same time that her mother started in on her father about his actions towards Lhaklar. The broom was used a further fifteen times before succumbing to the act that it was being used for; Angel was now using her words, and hands, against her husband.

"Now you just wait a cotton-pickin' minute!" TazirVile said in a near-calm way. "My disciplinary actions with Lhaklar were correctly done, Angel. The boy was acting disrespectful, I—"

"You call what you did up there correctly done?" Angel grabbed the lapels of her husband's gray striped tuxedo jacket then slammed him against the wall. "You broke that boy's arm, Tazir! By grabbing and then squeezing his arm, you broke it!"

"Wh... I didn't mean to do that!" TazirVile exclaimed. "I didn't mean to grab to hurt, Angel. I was only grabbing to s—"

"You don't "subdue" a child, Tazir!" Angel screamed. "You don't disrespect me, or take or destroy something that one of our children has, either! That's not parenting, that's you being a bully."

"The poster that you're talking about needed to be taken, Angel. It had a woman on it that—"

"I know what it had on it. I've seen it—whenever I go into that room, to return our son's clothing, or check-up on him, or see what state his room's in, I see it." Angel interrupted her husband, who gave her a long, hard look. "I know everything of what they own, Tazir. Nothing of theirs has crossed or missed my radar."

"You've really allowed a fine opening on the boys taking advantage of you, you know that, right?"

"An opportunity that they've never taken part in doing. I know my boys well, Tazir—they show me respect and they know the consequences that befall them if they cross me." Angel said.

"While I'm sure they're respectful towards you, I'm also sure that they've done certain things behind your back that you don't know of." TazirVile said. He pushed his wife, who was still clinging onto the lapels of his jacket, back gently; while remaining near the wall, he didn't huddle up or have his back placed against it. "There's a lot of things that I'm sure the boys do that you're not aware of. You've got them spoiled, Angel. As much as it hurts me to say it, you d—"

The punch that she dished out was heard all throughout the house. TazirVile bounced from the wall, then landed on the floor right after her tightly woven fist collided with the side of his face. The man worked his jaw, checking to see if it was broken or not, before looking up at her... who, not long after he did so, dropped to his eye level.

"Let's get something straight here, you slick son of a bitch. I have not spoiled my sons. I've raised them well. They—all five of them—are a good bunch who regard me extraordinarily well. You, on the other hand, haven't warranted such respect." Angel said.

"Being father of them boys should warrant automatic respect, Angel." TazirVile said.

"Father by name and blood only, not by action." Angel said. "Lhaklar's been released from that poor excuse of a punishment that you've given him and he's been told to make a copy of the poster that you unjustly destroyed. Where the hell is his model?"

"On Moas, where it'll stay until—"

"You have that model on that table—" Angel turned, then pointed at the dining room table. "—in less than five minutes. If it's not there after that given time—"

"Your brand of intimidation won't work on me, Angel. It never has." TazirVile lied.

"If you don't want to see your ass thrown out of this house, or have the spell that I did that allows you free passage of the planet's shields dropped, you'll do as I've instructed you." Angel said.

The model of the 1910 Ford Model "T" appeared on the table less than ten seconds later. Angel took it then marched it to her son's bedroom. Lazeer, Kiefer and Killian Kassmeyer, and Eli Mendelsohn ducked out of view of the sole remaining person in the dining room right after she left to take the returned item upstairs. Lazeer's friends had just started getting ready to go home when his parents started fighting in the room that was across from the one that they were in; thanks to the window that was between the living room and dining room, he and his friends were able to watch the whole fight. After Angel went upstairs, the four boys turned then slid down to a crowded seated arrangement on the loveseat.

"Dude! Your mum keeps getting even more bad-ass every damn time I come over here." Kiefer Kassmeyer said.


	9. Chapter 9

With the fight being heard by most everyone who lived on Zweig Straße, it was no surprise that their concerns grew to what they were. With what happened on two of the four days that followed, they were now even more concerned for their neighbor and her children. Thanks to their concern, a meeting was scheduled to happen on the morning of May 30. Instead of being held in a library, or in some place that was a distance from the Grün Bach subdivision, it was decided that it'd be held in the house that she and her family lived in.

Petra was the one who let everyone in. She was on strict orders to go upstairs after everyone was here; after welcoming Amelinda Schmidt and Azzo Kaiser into the house, she did as she was told... er, after leading Amelinda and Azzo to the living room, that was.

With the meeting taking place in their house, it was only natural that she and Kurt were there to attend it. Almeric Carver, who lived to their left, was here—after seeing what he did, he couldn't fathom the idea of not being involved in the meeting. Benedikt and Beate Abbing's increased stress and concern levels over the Irene's, and their brief correspondence with the alien man and his daughter, was the cause of their being here. Amelinda Schmidt and her fiancé, who lived four doors down from them, were here because of what they heard during the fight and because of what they witnessed while being in Miss. Irene's workplace two days later. Ernsta Wulff, who lived in the house that was on the end of the street, was here because of what she saw earlier that morning.

She and Kurt were given the day off from their nursing duties at Kreiskrankenhaus; even though they were on "vacation", they were serious on what was to happen in their house. Before the meeting began, they looked at the faces of their neighbors—on the day of the fight, Mitzi wasn't home. Her husband was, though, and it was he who told her what happened. The few, brief conversations that her husband had with Benedikt Abbing, Almeric Carver, Azzo Kaiser, and Ernsta Wulff had convinced him that a sort of meeting was needed so, after talking it over with her, it was agreed upon that their house would be where it would take place in. Even though they were sure that there were others on the street that had either heard or seen things that they hadn't, no one else had come forward to speak or attend the meeting.

"Let's start with what we know," Kurt said, starting the meeting off in, what he thought, the right direction. "The ones that took up the Rastatter Rheinaue nature reserve left on the seventeenth of April. The neighborhood was peaceful; nothing new was seen or noted until the twenty-seventh—ten days after the reserve was vacated."

"Actually, something amiss was noted in the neighborhood before that." Almeric Carver said. "On the nineteenth, the missus and I saw that something was different with the Irene House. It looked bigger, or wider, on the side. Ima and I were talking about it a few hours ago; according to her, she saw a tall man, wearing a light blue tuxedo, walking around to its side on the morning of the eighteenth."

"What did she see?" Mitzi asked.

"Must of spooked her something awful because, up to now, I've known nothing about it. She said that she saw a blue beam of light shooting out from his hand. The house "grew" out after it hit it. A bunch of yellow glowing lights were seen next, then the house made a sort of awning or creaking sound." Almeric Carver responded.

Almeric Carver was a near twenty year resident of the the Grün Bach subdivision. He and his wife were good friends with the Klied's; their friendship was sparked almost after the couple, and their then-three year old daughter, moved into the neighborhood. While they weren't nosey by any means, they did try their best to be a helping hand to the ones who lived around them. He and his wife had two children; their oldest daughter was a good friend of Petra's, while their youngest daughter was two years younger than Petra's sister. While he worked in construction, his wife was a school teacher; his wife was heading out to go to work on the morning that she saw the light blue tuxedo-wearing man walking around to the Irene house's side. While he and his wife were meaning to say hello to the man who seemed to be the frequent collector of the Irenes' mail, they hadn't done so. Something had stopped them from going forward to talk or say hi to him. Letta was curious about the girl alien that was living in the house; thankfully, she was being respectful to his and his wife's requests over not going near the residence.

Almeric, who was closing in on being forty-six, had never seen this much "action" occur in the neighborhood before and, honestly, he hoped that he'd never see it again. While having the Irene's in the neighborhood was an honor, and while he placed no blame on the family for all of what happened in the last eight months, he couldn't help but wonder why nothing on their part was done to prevent, or at least slow down, what was going on in their house. The alien man's posture, which looked both annoyed and angry to him, and his action of "shoving" Miss. Irene into the house that she and her sons lived in, was enough to make him wonder if something other than Miss. Irene having temporary, lived-in company, or a boyfriend and his daughter, living under her roof was happening. He was quick in writing down his unease right after taking a seat in his kitchen on the twenty-sixth. The facts were compiled quickly: the only one who seemed to be continuing her routine was Miss. Irene; her sons looked to not be doing their usual routines anymore; and the alien man looked to now be the only one who collected the mail—he started twitching, an act that he very rarely did, after writing that down.

The idea of the alien man having an overly dominant side, that he was trying to flex with everyone that lived in the Irene house, had come to him after he started writing. The seemingly nervous posture that the girl alien used whenever she walked around the house's backyard hadn't been missed either.

His concern for the Irene's started growing after the yelling and screaming was heard. He and Ima had experienced some brutal fights in their marriage... what he heard on that day had made his and his wife's fights seem less brutal. Miss. Irene wasn't seen as leaving the residence on the twenty-seventh, and her sons and that alien girl had also stayed inside. The only one to leave the house was the alien man—the mail was speedily collected; the man practically ran back to the house after collecting it.

"On the first of the month, I spoke with the man who's been collecting the Irenes' mail." Kurt said, everyone looked at him sharply. "I was quick in noting two things about him: one, he seems to be right intelligent, and two, he seemed rather reluctant to speak to me. He said a few things before we parted ways that I've yet to accept. The first was that he claimed to be on Earth before but, prior to now, not on this side of the shields. The second was that he and Miss. Irene are "an item". According to the man, our neighbor has been married to him for over two thousand years."

"I spoke with the man on the fourteenth; he was pleasant up to my saying something about Miss. Irene." Benedikt Abbing said. "Before I said anything on her, I just introduced myself then asked him a few questions on himself. On the day that we talked, he said that he just got back from some planet called Motalini—a hearing in some court with his nephew was the cause of his going to the planet. Though he wouldn't emphasize the nature of his court appearance, he did mention that he had no issues in getting back into the shield."

"How's that? With the exception of them Trolls, all of them other aliens were repelled by the shield." Ernsta Wulff asked, then pointed out.

"Been wondering that for a while now." Benedikt said. "The man also said that he "owns" several galaxies; when we spoke, he said that, for the last few weeks, he's been leaving the shields to conduct "business" on them."

"He's been entering and exiting the shield that's over our town freely for weeks now?" Ernsta's hand found itself being planted to her chest.

"Our conversation was pleasant up to my saying what I did on Miss. Irene—I simply said that she was nice, smart, well composed, and beautiful."

"Vhich sche ist." Azzo Kaiser said.

"He got all stone-y in the face before saying something about his being married to her. Me and my wife have been concerned over his possibly being a man of the overly possessive, abusive sort ever since I spoke with him." Benedikt finished.

"The day following my husband's conversation with that man, I decided to take a trip to see Miss. Irene at her workplace." Beate Abbing spoke up. "She was working at one of the registers; I grabbed a few items then went through. While she was running the items that I placed on the belt of her station, I noticed that two of her fingers were burned. While I'm no doctor or nurse by any means, I do believe that they were mid to high-level first degree burns."

"The fifteenth, right?" Mitzi asked. Beate nodded her head. "I saw her putting canned soups and vegetables on the shelves of U-Krop-It three days earlier. She looked perfectly fine. There were no burns or other marks on her body."

"The burns looked twenty-four hours old." Beate said.

"Y-you think that man..."

After two minutes of stunned silence occurred, Beate spoke of her conversation with the alien girl. Along with saying that she was very polite and pleasant with her, she also mentioned that she was nervous and shy. She mentioned her supposition of the man in question possibly being of the well-off sort before turning the meeting's reins to Almeric, who, she noted, looked quite serious in the face.

Almeric, speaking as calmly, and clearly, as he could, told of what he saw on the afternoon of the twenty-sixth. He left not a detail out. All of what he saw, and then did after seeing what he did, was told. He made the deduction of his thinking that the man was one of them types who were of the overly dominant sort who liked to "flex" or send out their brand of over-dominance onto others before putting a halt to talking. Benedikt and Beate Abbing nodded their heads; though agreeing with him, they said nothing to him. The reins of the meeting were then given to Amelinda Schmidt and her fiancé, Azzo; since Azzo's accent was very evident that morning, Amelinda decided to tell what they heard during their neighbor's fight and then what they saw on the twenty-eighth of May.

"Azzo and I were on the porch when it started. Azzo had just come in from work; I did my usual in greeting him by the door. I had just hugged him when the screaming was heard. Miss. Irene was really mad about something... and that something, we both believe, revolves around the alien man and Miss. Irene's adopted son." Amelinda Schmidt started. "With Miss. Irene screaming like she was, we heard such words as "dare", "place", "wrong finger", "grabbed", "wrist", and "shoved". Miss. Irene, like my fiancé, just got home from work; Azzo and I believe that one of her sons told her something that happened within the house that they live in... which triggered a violent reaction from their mutter.

"Even though we wanted to go over to see if things were okay, we decided to stay out of it. We went by our set routines for all of two days before deciding to take a trip to Miss. Irene's workplace."

Amelinda Schmidt, who worked in the city of Rastatt as a Psychologist, went cold for a second before getting control of herself. She and Azzo Kaiser were dating for a little over six years now, but the ring was only two years placed; while she worked as a Psychologist, Azzo worked as a bank branch representative. She took note of their bread, milk, noodle, and cereal supplies being "low" on the late-night hours of the twenty-seventh; after talking to Azzo about their "depleted" food supplies, the decision to go to the local food mart, which was U-Krop-It, was made. The following morning, they took the trip to the store, then got out of their car, then went in. They took their "sweet" time in shopping the store shelves before going over to where the deli was. Miss. Irene, who was seen as being in the store, and working in that section, was still there... but she had company with her.

"He wasn't with her when we first saw her." Amelinda said. "The man was walking in-sync with her, but he was on the customer side of the counter while she was on its other side. She was filling an order for two, young boys at the time; the man was following and jowling her the entire time that she was weighing and then bagging their order. With my curiosity being as high as it was, I made the decision to go up to see if she'd fill an order for a pound of honey ham. Azzo, being the friendly fellow that he is, decided to talk to her some while my order was being made; that man was... staring at him the entire time."

"Staring?" Almeric asked.

"I got the distinct feeling that he was... upset over my fiancé talking to our neighbor. The way he was looking at him... I just got a bad vibe from it... The man also seemed to be watching my fiancé's every move, which caused me to be more anxious. After thirty or so seconds, I decided to walk over and see if I could remove some of his attention from Azzo." she stopped for a second before going on. "He ignored me. He just plain refused to talk or acknowledge me. Miss. Irene noticed this right away; she got on him for his rudeness before giving me my order. While we were leaving the deli, we overheard her saying something about his needing to "lighten" up. Azzo turned his head right when we exited the deli, he says that he saw the man get a set look on his face. The man said that he'd see our neighbor later then "disappeared"."

"Disappeared?" Kurt asked.

"According to Azzo, a triple gold flash was seen in the deli. The man was gone after it was seen." Amelinda said. "Miss. Irene shook her head, then went back to work after he left the building."

"Sche lukt heppy afer zat man left." Azzo said.

Ernsta Wulff, who worked in the nearby airport as a clerk, took her turn in relaying what she saw that early morning. She had just come home; two clerks had called in sick and she was asked to take over for one of them. While driving down the street, she saw Bile getting into the BMW that he and his brothers owned. No sooner had the boy gotten into the vehicle before the man left—or charged, as she called it—the house. She went to her house, parked her car, then got out; she claimed to of stood idly by, watching as the man "warred" with the youngster. While her vision wasn't very good without her glasses, she was able to see the goings-on between the two; she claimed that the man reached into the vehicle, took the key that was pushed into the ignition out, then went back to the house. Bile, after sitting behind the wheel for ten or so seconds, got out of the car, closed the door, then followed him to the house about halfway before stopping.

"I'm a mutter of three and a grandmutter of two; while I know how upset children can get, I've never seen a boy get as upset as Bile was before in my life! As far as I know, he did go back to the house. What happened next, I don't know." Ernsta finished.

"That man doesn't sound like someone that Miss. Irene, or her sons, should be around. A normal, pleasant, man, who dates or marries a woman who has children, would treat that woman and her children nicely and he'd also not prevent or stop certain things that she or her children do." Amelinda said after Ernsta's tale was told.

"Should an intervention be done?" Kurt asked. This was the main focal point of the meeting; now that the tales of what was seen and heard were told, it was time to talk about whether or not someone should step up to the plate in trying to aid their planet's heroine in the removal of the man who looked to be trying to turn her and her sons' lives upside down. "Should one of us go and speak to her about this or should we wait a while longer?"

"As it stands, I'm all for someone intervening. Just because Miss. Irene's our planet's protector doesn't mean that she can handle situations where overly possessive, and dominant, men are involved." Beate Abbing said.

"Same." Beate's husband said.

"While I know the situation is serious, or could become serious, I think we shouldn't jump to conclusions on what to do just yet." Mitzi said.

"Vhat if ve ah vrong? Vhat if nozing ist happening?" Azzo asked. "I'm on zee fence... for nov, zat ist."

While most of the neighbors were for an intervention, there were a select few who persuaded everyone to not get involved. Or, at least, not yet. Mitzi Klied was just suggesting that they wait until something else happened when EshalVile Eskara Surfeit noticed what she thought was a big ball of orange-brown and black fur ambling by the open door of her mother's bedroom.

After spending most of the morning downstairs, playing a video game with Lazeer, then doing a small work-out session in her brothers' work-out room, she made the decision to go up to her bedroom. Her mother, for the most part, told her to keep the magazines that she was given on the twenty-sixth of May; she had a desire to look at what was on their pages. Instead of going straight to her room after finishing her ascent of the stairs, she stopped short then watched as the ball of fur ambled down the hallway. It took her all of twenty seconds to scrounge up the courage to go over to check it out.

"Lhaklar and Lazeer were joking around about the place having rodents in it earlier this month..." she thought while going towards the thing.

Even though the ball of fur was bigger than a rodent, she still wondered if it was a rodent. She didn't know a thing about the planet's rodent life; the same went on knowing how big or small they got. She was just thinking about giving the ball of fur a nudge with her foot when her mind kicked in.

"No you don't! What if it turns on you, and then bites and infects you with one of the diseases that rodents are known to carry?" her mind asked her.

What if it just scurried away to wherever it came from? If she nudged it with her foot, and it bit her, would her foot, which wasn't clothed in either sock or shoe, bleed or grow swollen? She didn't have to wonder about what she'd do after getting bit by a rodent; a scream would penetrate the house then her father would tear up to see what was wrong. She knew well that her father would take care of her if she got bit by a rodent—he did so before, why would he not do so now?

While going towards the ball of fur, which was now not moving from where it was, something else popped into her head. For some reason, she started thinking about dust bunnies—them odd accumulations of dust and fluff that collected in the oddest of places. Could the ball of fur not be fur at all? Could it be a harmless ball of dust and fluff? It couldn't be a ball of hair; the colors that made it up didn't match that of the ones who both had hair on their heads and lived in the house.

She moved cautiously down the hallway. Guyunis's bedroom door, she was quick to note, was open. She found this strange. Guyunis, since her and her father's residency in the house occurred, would, without fail, have his door closed—if he was in the room that it belonged to, it'd be locked. She wondered if he'd continue doing this after the move to Moas was done for only a second before bending down to examine the item that was still where it was. She had no more bent down before a wide smile spread across her face. Fear and caution were thrown to the wind; she scooped the ball of fur up then stood up.

"Awww! Aren't you Cuuute!" she said after picking the ball of fur up.

Her father was right adamant about their place being clean, tidy, and well-maintained; with the exception of his bats, platypuses, and fish, and her mother's Sekhems, no domestic animals were allowed to roam any of its halls or call it home. Her father had a lot of fine, expensive things at home... he claimed that he didn't want anything to destroy them, or tear up the walls or carpets. Up to real recently, the house was dog-less; her mother was given a mixed breed puppy last year that was oh so sweet and smart... Daddy didn't look happy after she was brought into their home, but he hadn't say anything on whether they could keep her. Zanra, as she was named, was half Speckled Picardy and half Moozed Fousk; she was a year and a half now.

Despite not having any cats or dogs to interact or play with as a child, she still spent a lot of time around them. Whenever her father took her to her uncle's place, she'd go off to play with one of his many cats or with one of the dogs that he and his wife had. While she was more careful when she was taken to her grandfather's place, she also played with his and his wife's many cats and their one dog too. The same went when she went to spent some time with her friends; along with playing and interacting with them, she also interacted with their pets. Her father had never persuaded her from doing so; he just told her to not get any ideas in her head about asking for one... which, while hard, she never did.

While she respected her father, she thought that he had a strange perception of cats and dogs. Up to real recently, her father was the only one in his family to not have a dog roaming the halls of his home. Despite their now having a dog, and her father's seemingly affectionate associations with her, he was adamant on their not getting another or in adding a cat to their abode.

While she liked dogs, she was more of a cat preferring person... and it just so happened that she had a cat in her arms.

"And a pretty one at that!"

The cat was very small—just barely eleven inches—and was very beautifully marked. It had a very unique, calico colored coat; with the exception of the small, white circle, that was in the center of its chest, and the white toes, the rest of its coat was orange-brown and black. What got her attention was its face—it was bi-colored, with the left side being an orange-brown color and the right being black. There were a series of tabby-like stripes on the orange-brown portion of its face. When the cat turned its head up, towards her own, she saw that it had different colored eyes. Up to that moment in time, she had never seen a cat that had different colored eyes before; the animal's left eye was a bright blue color while its right was green. The cat was pretty well round, so she knew it was being well-cared for.

"Bile... Lazeer..." she called. At the moment, it was just her, her father, Bile, Guyunis, and Lazeer who were home. Lhaklar went out to spend some time with his friends while Hazaar went out to the town's community center—a place that, up to that morning, she didn't know existed. While she wanted to go to the community center, she was reluctant to ask her father for permission. Her father had a rough few days; it was really for the best to not bug or pester him but so much right now. "Who's cat is this?"

The cat's fur, she noticed, wasn't as soft as the ones that Uncle Kuruk and Granddaddy Duru had. While the cat had a lot of fur on it, and while it was quite fluffy in appearance, it wasn't soft like a normal cat's was. The cat's fur, when she stroked it, was... wiry, or coarse to the touch. This was another first for her; not once had she ever seen or stroked a cat that had wiry or coarse fur before. She stroked the cat twice more before calling out to her two, at-home brothers again; instead of hearing either Bile or Lazeer answer her, someone with a low, strong, nasally-sounding voice answered her. She did a little jump, then turned after hearing the sound of a door being closed.

"Mine," Guyunis repeated.

As he stood before the upstairs bathroom, staring at the girlie, who's blue hair was set in a braided bun fashion, and who was wearing a loose-fitting aquamarine tunic top, that had a black belt around its waist, and dark blue, loose-leg trousers, he couldn't help but wonder how his cat found a way out of his room. He was sure that he closed his bedroom door before going off to use the bathroom; his cat, who was no more than nine months old, and who couldn't weigh anymore than twelve or so pounds, couldn't of opened the door on her own. Either someone—the girlie, perhaps—opened the door during his absence or it didn't latch properly after being closed. Whatever the reason behind it still not being closed, his cat was out and about... and in the arms of one of the two people who started living under his family's roof a little over a month ago.

The afternoon of the seventeenth of April was a frequent visitor of his dreams—sometimes, they started the second his head hit one of the pillows that were on his bed. He and Bile were seen first; they'd go up to the house, then go in, then Bile would call out to their mutter, then that white-haired Troll would round the corner. The Troll would yell out for "Master Tazir" then... then all of the people who were in the dining room would come racing over to give him a big fright. A lot of finger pointing and yelling and accusation-doing would happen, then his mutter would fight her way through the crowd, then Bile would position himself in front of him, then his birth-dat would lunge towards him. The time that he spent in the basement with Big Bro Bile as his faithful "companion"... hearing everyone yelling and cursing upstairs... the DNA testing... his birth-dat rushing from the house after seeing that no one was going to be complaint to his wishes... the three hours that he spent bawling his eyes out in his room after his birth-dat and older, half-bruder left the house... and the discovery of his mutter letting her husband and adopted daughter stay with them; in a way, he was tormented by this reoccurring dream of his. With his mutter's husband and his daughter being in the house for the last month, week, and six days, he really didn't need to be having this same dream over and over again—they, alone, reminded him of what happened on that April afternoon.

In a lot of ways, he kind of wished that his mutter would put or ask for them to take up "residence" in a motel or hotel somewhere... or, better yet, send them to some other planet that was a distance from the one that he and his family were on. The man, as far as he could tell, was pushy and overly controlling and the girlie... well... he had no opinion on her. She didn't seem to be of the overly controlling type, or of the abusive type, or of the pushy type... she seemed nice and polite... but he wasn't sure if her politeness or niceness was a put-on act or not. Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer seemed to be getting along with her, Hazaar seemed to be getting along with her half of the time, and his mutter seemed to be very acceptive and "charmed" of her; he had yet to spend any length of time around or speak at length with her. At most, he'd just say a handful of words to her a day; in comparison to that "Tazir" man that his mum was married to, that was a lot. Unless the man came near him, or he found himself as having to speak to him, his lips were sealed.

The man's actions towards him four days ago had scared him half to death! Thoughts of him being like one of his former adoptive fader's, and mental images of him actually turning into Mathis Meyer Jr., the man who "acted" as his adoptive fader before he was formerly adopted by his current parent, had happened after his hand was wrapped around his wrist. The man grabbing him by the wrist, then pulling him down, then wrapping his arm around his head, then shoving him back after telling him to both calm down and go to his room had caused more than a little anxiety to be felt. If not for Bile, and his mum, who spent the better part of two hours comforting and talking to him, he would of succumbed to his anxiety.

Bile's concern over his contemplating, or actually going through with running away from home because of the two being in it, wasn't a secret—his oldest bruder didn't need to say a thing; he could read the concern that he felt over the issue well in his eyes. Bile would probably be very happy to know that such a thing wouldn't happen—the thought had never crossed his mind and, even if it had, he wouldn't follow through with it. While he wished for the man and girlie to go away and not come back, he couldn't fathom the idea of running away. He loved his mum and bruders; he didn't want to cause them pain or worry.

If not for his cat being in the possession of the girlie, he'd do his usual: go back to the bathroom then wait it out until she either went downstairs or disappeared into that room of hers. At the moment, his worry over her doing something to his cat, who he found last year, on the twenty-secondth of August, caused his desire to be wary and distant of her to be thrown out the door. He did nothing more than stand by the closed bathroom door while she came towards him.

"So, this is the cause behind all them cat noises that I and my dad have been hearing for the last month." Eshal said after stopping before Guyunis. The cat, she noticed, started getting fidgety after she reached the boy that, technically, was a sibling of hers; she held the cat out to Guyunis after it started getting antsy—this action of hers wasn't done out of her fearing what Guyunis would do or say to her if she kept holding the animal. It was, more or less, done as a way to form a sort of trust-barrier between them, and as a way to calm him down. "Male or female?"

"Female," Guyunis replied. The cat started purring after she was in his arms.

"How old is she? Seems right small—is she a kitten?" Eshal asked.

"Nine months," Guyunis answered. "Found her in an alley las-k-t year, in late-August. She and another kitten were in a box."

"You took both in, or just her?"

"Jus-k-t her. Her sibling-k was dead when I found her... she was near-dead a-k-t the time."

"She's a rather pretty animal." Eshal said. She scratched the cat behind the ear; Guyunis, she was quick to see, didn't flinch or back away from her.

"Mum says tha-k-t she's a Chimera." Guyunis said.

"A... what?" Eshal had never heard such a word before in her life.

"From wha-k-t mum told me, a Chimera is a rare conditi-k-tion or disorder that happens after two embryos or fer-k-tilized eggs fuse together while in the womb." Guyunis explained. "Mum says tha-k-t Sabine absorbed one of her deceased siblings when they were in their mutter."

"Sabine? Is that her name?" Eshal asked. Though intrigued by what Guyunis just told her, and overjoyed over finally having a complete conversation with him, she found herself as being more interested in wanting to know the cat's name.

"Yes," Guyunis slowly walked around Eshal, then went down the hall to his room.

The meeting between some of the neighbors happened at exactly 10:24 a.m. Eshal saw Sabine exactly twenty minutes later... but she didn't tell him about it until some hours later. He should of known about the animal being in the house—a month's worth of a brand of wet cat food called Friskies, and two bags of hard kitten food, were brought in at the start of the month; them items, alone, should of alerted him to its presence. The cat noises—the animal voicing its displeasure over being contained in a bedroom—should of also alerted him to it being in the house. He did the only thing that he could think of doing after learning about his wife's adopted son having a cat as a pet: sigh then go to his wife for a brief conversation on it.

Questions such as _how long has it been in the house_ , _how attached is Guyunis to it_ , and _is it a family pet or a pet of just one of the boys_ were asked; even though Eshal mentioned the animal as being in the house, she didn't say a thing about what Guyunis told her on it. According to Angel, Guyunis brought and then hid it in his bedroom for all of a week before she found him as being in possession of it. The boy, who came upon the near-newborn animal in an alley somewhere, had taken pity on it and decided to take it home, nurture it, and hopefully keep it as a pet... and Angel just so allowed this to happen.

"Still allergic to cats?" he asked after being told this. "Still get rashes and bumps that drive you up a wall and back after a cat's come in contact with you?"

"Yes," his wife admitted.

"Why do you have an animal that you're allergic to in the house that you reside in?" he asked.

"Because I'm a parent, Tazzy." his wife responded. "Sometimes, parents have to suffer for their young to be happy."

With the exception of his wife saying that she had a hard time in saying no in regards to Guyunis keeping the animal, and her telling him that she based her decision on not saying no to his keeping the animal as a pet on his coming home being all depressed from being bullied by some of the neighborhood kids, no further conversation happened between them on it. With the feline's discovery now being known, and with his coming right out in saying that neither he nor Eshal would harm her, she was allowed "small range" roaming rights in the house. Guyunis, though looking to be happy over now being allowed to let his pet roam beyond his bedroom, kept his eye on her at all times whenever she left his room. The cat was only allowed to roam the residence's second level; it wasn't allowed to come downstairs. While he was curious over whether this was a normal thing, or just something that Guyunis was doing because he was downstairs, he didn't express his curiosity.

Soon after the animal was allowed free roam of the second level, he decided to take a trip to the downstairs bathroom—he started using a series of small range Telepathy techniques right after entering that room, which allowed him full insight to the animal's adventurous movements. Thanks to them techniques of his, he was able to see that it was allowed to enter and roam each of the upstairs bedrooms... sometimes, when they had an occupant or occupants in them, and, sometimes, when they were vacant. None of the displayed items that were in the rooms were scratched or pawed at and his two, younger sons' pets were left alone. Again, while curious over this, he didn't say or question anyone in the house about it. Cats, as far as he was concerned, were notorious for scratching at and destroying things and they were also famous for hacking and then leaving globs or balls of hair in certain places of the house that they lived in; this cat, he noted, did neither of them things. She just roamed the rooms, looked at certain things that were either on display or out and in the open, then left.

"It's possible that she's like Zanra—smart and well-trained." he thought as he left the bathroom, then turned to go up the stairs.

It took him a little over ten thousand years to move past his father's "death". After getting his neighbor and good friend's letter, that a good description of Moas, and its expertly trained help, was included in, he made the decision to check the planet and its available plots of non-owned land out. A loan for $350,000,000 was taken from one of the Gamma Vile banks that his family dealt with on a regular basis, then the plans for his residence were drawn up, then a contractor was hired; it took nearly a year before construction was complete. The remaining cash from the loan was spent on some of the residence's furniture; about twenty percent of the rooms were equipped with it before the funds started ebbing low. He moved in almost immediately after its construction was complete, and some of it was furnished, and after hiring the first several individuals who'd work it and its land. Two to three months after he moved in, he started looking for a galaxy that wasn't owned by anyone—along with it being time to garner some attention, and make a name for himself as a conqueror, he also had to pay back the loan that he took out and pay the men and women that he employed. Six months after moving into his mansion, he left to conquer the Vaisha Galaxy. His vast fortune had come from that galaxy; along with being able to pay off the loan in one fell swoop, he was able to pay the substantial bills that he accumulated and pay his newly employed staff for their services. After that was done, he still had plenty to "play" with.

He and his family had a good, expensive home to live in... destructive cats and dogs weren't needed to be in it. While reluctant to have the cat moved to his mansion, he was, in a lot of ways, stuck between a rock and a hard place—he had already made the promise that all of his sons' material possessions and pets would be moved to Moas in six months; he couldn't up and say that one of them couldn't bring his cat with him when that move was made. He'd be going back on his promise, and be tarnishing whatever relationship he and the boy had forged between themselves, if he did that.

"A few changes have already been made on the mansion's third level—the chambers to the left of the ones that are Lhaklar's, Hazaar's, and Lazeer's have had a door placed on their sides, so that both are connected. All furniture items were removed; a series of shelves are already being put up, and an order for nine display cases has been made. Them three will be all ready to go in their model-building interests after the move to Moas is made."

Now it was time to see if the chamber that was beside the one that was Bile's was needed. With the exception of Guyunis's bedroom, he had yet to go in, see, or make any comments on what Bile's bedroom looked like; even though he and his adopted son had a minor issue that early morning, he was planning on changing this. He was sure that Bile had since forgiven and then forgotten what happened between them—the boy said something about taking the BMW out for a "spin"; it took him, and his sleep-clogged mind, all of twenty seconds to figure out what he meant by that.

He was only looking out for Bile's well-being when he went out to prevent him from using the car. His son was much too young to be driving; along with being a mid-teenage boy, it was illegal for anyone who was under the age of two thousand, eight hundred, and fifty to drive a vehicle. Bile, along with not being that age, could get into considerable trouble for driving and for not having a validated learner's permit or street legal adult accompanying him—he could also be hurt while doing what he was. While he left the house slowly, he didn't waste a second in getting to his son or in taking the key from the ignition. Despite Bile's claim of both having a license and knowing how to drive a car, he still took the keys. Bile came in all hot around the collar; whatever activity he was planning on doing wasn't done. The boy had just sat in his room all day.

"The four days that followed my and my wife's fight weren't good ones." he thought while going up the stairs.

Though meaning to be strong, he was given a scare that caused him to jump and then become nervous. Along with giving him the threat of being thrown from the house, and having the spell that allowed him free access to the shield's interior removed, Angel gave him the cold shoulder for most of the rest of the day. Only after everyone started getting ready for bed had she spoken to him. A pillow and blanket were thrown at him, then she said for him to grow comfortable on the couch before going up to her room. He spent all of two days sleeping in the living room before finally being allowed to rejoin his wife in her bedroom at night.

The scare that he was given on that day had such a profound effect on him that he came very close to dropping his month-long habit of collecting the mail. He found himself as worrying about finding himself barred from entering the house after going out to retrieve it... which was why he started racing to the mailbox to collect it. His sons, with the exception of Lhaklar, who must of gotten a good scare from him on the day that he took his poster, had all laughed after he returned to the house; the claim of his seeing a ghost during his trek to the mailbox was made right after them laughs were emitted.

His boredom, and his need to be near his wife, and for redemption, had caused him to make the trip to Angel's workplace on the twenty-eighth. His wife, who was just given a task to do in her appointed station, hadn't said a thing on his needing to leave or asked why he was there. He was allowed to talk, walk and follow her around, and be near her. He'd be the first to admit that his mood wasn't all that grand on that morning—thanks to the stress that he felt over the last two days, he wasn't allowed to sleep much. His only being up for a little over two hours, his not being fully awake, his boredom, and the stress from the last two days had made that morning not be the best of mornings for him. While Angel had understood this, she had still gotten on him for his "improper" public place actions in giving some man by the name of Azzo Kaiser the angry stares and in ignoring some woman named Amelinda Schmidt. After saying his name, then saying for him to stop being so rude with others, then seeing her customer off, she said for him to lighten up. With his present mood known, he made the decision to leave the building; Lazeer had made the suggestion that he take a nap right after he returned to the house. He took him up on that suggestion.

"Warning! He's on the second floor!" Hazaar sang after he reached the top of the stairs.

He smiled at his son then went down the hall. Guyunis, he noticed, looked out from his room after he walked past. It was only when he walked by the open bedroom that was Lhaklar's that he saw the cat—she was resting on the sill of the room's window. After acknowledging his son for his singing about his being on the level, then taking note of where the cat was, he went straight to the room that was across from Lazeer's.

"All of the boys must have these," he said. The aluminum sign, that was on the door that he was standing before, was a dark red color; there was a thick, bright silver border around the saying of _I'm The Oldest; I Make The Rules._ There was a piece of plywood above the sign that had _Bile's Room: Enter At Own Risk_ burned on it. After reaching the door, then taking in its ornaments, he stretched his hand forward. He knocked twice then waited. He had to knock four more times before it was opened.

"Hey," Bile said.

"Wake you from a nap?" he asked.

"No—Ozzy Osbourne was playing; didn't hear you knocking until the song switched over."

Bile was wearing a pair of dark brown pants and a short sleeve, dark green shirt, that, of course, was torn in the chest and stomach areas, earlier that day; sometime after going upstairs after coming in that morning, he switched from wearing those. He was now wearing a gray muscle shirt and knee-long green shorts. The change in wardrobe allowed him to see, and confirm, what he thought on this son of his—Bile was a very healthy, and muscled, young man who, sadly, owed much of his appearance to his sire. Even through the shirt, he could see the depth of muscle that he had on his chest. His six-pack was firm and well-formed and his arms were big and well-muscled. From the waist on down, Bile was a "little" more trim. The skeletal right shoulder, the skeletal portion of his arm from his elbow on down to his wrist, and his skeletal knees were also inherited from his sire.

If he remembered correctly, the boy's paternal grandmother had once tried the old Junior routine on him when he was little. Whenever she and his brother came over for a visit, the first thing that'd she say was _where's Junior_ ; even as a young toddler, Bile loathed being compared to his father and being called Junior.

He, over the last few weeks, was trying to put Bile on a diet to lose some weight and muscle mass. So far, his son wasn't being very compliant with him. Angel was told about the weights that he took from the boys' work-out room on the night following their fight; through her efforts, and his fear of her actually following through in having him kicked from the house then barred from entering the shield again, the weights were returned to their former station.

"Got a weight in your room that you're working with?" he asked. He was expecting a yes-answer; what he got back surprised him.

"A "weight" weight? No. Dumbbells? Yes—been using the seventy-five pounders for a few hours now." Bile replied.

He tested the boy, then asked if he could come in after noticing that he was calm in his presence. Bile looked him over, then backed up, then turned to the side; he went in on cue—the old you-may-enter gesture was given perfectly; he was surprised over seeing that he both knew it and knew how to give it. After stepping into the room, he stopped short; it looked like the unused chamber that was to the left of the one that was Bile's would be fixed up for his adopted son. While he wouldn't say that the room was "cluttered" by any means, he would say that it had a good, "museum"-like air in it.

With it looking the way it was, he started looking at the basics. The bed, which had a rustic log frame to it, was pushed up against the room's bottom right corner. The bedding had multi-gray and black stereo and speaker designs on it; the two pillows had just multi-gray and black speaker designs on them. A rustic, pallet wood bedside table, that had a cubby-space on it, was beside the bed; the loud-ass, skull-themed alarm clock, that woke Bile up each morning, was on its surface. A lamp that looked much like a person's spinal column was behind the clock—it had a false-gold paint-job, and it looked like it was made out of a flexible plastic material. The light fixture was round and sturdy; it held a single, round bulb in it. The lamp's base, which looked like a human pelvis, looked quite heavy. A rather unique and expensive looking, dark brown and cream striped, Tuareg rug was on the floor before the table.

In the room's upper left corner sat a rustic, mountain pine dresser that had four drawers on it. A 30" flat screen tv was on the wall above it.

A rather full, rustic, aspen wood bookcase, that had five shelves on it, was across from the foot of the bed. Like with all of his biological sons, his adopted son had a corner desk and chair in his room. The desk was in the corner that was opposite the one that the bed was against; there were a few jars of paint, a few paint brushes, and a few napkins on its surface.

"Don't think I need to ask if you've got an interest in furniture that's rustic-made." TazirVile said. He found that the room had no more furniture in it.

"According to ma, I'm a junkie when it comes to anything that's rustic made." Bile replied.

"Personal opinion, Bile, don't mean to offend but that desk and chair look right tacky with the other furniture that's in here." TazirVile said as he started to look at the slew of items that were either on the walls, or displayed on the bookcase, or were on the shelves that were on the room's right and left facing walls.

The wall, that was to the left of the bedroom door, had two, big hunting trophies on it that he was quick to both examine and admire. The preserved Mountain Goat head, that was above the light switch, looked extremely well-cared for. The head, face, and neck were covered in thick, white fur; the animal had a fluffy, white beard and black eyes. The horns were black; they were about ten inches long. It was the fact that there wasn't a hair out of line, and that the fur was dust-free, and that the horns were very nicely polished, that made him believe that it was being well-cared for.

A preserved Hartebeest head was beside the Mountain Goat head. The face of the head was long; the fur that was on it was both light brown and sandy-brown. The horns curved in; along with the tips curving inwards, they had an S-shaped design to them. They had a reach of twenty-four inches. Like with the head that was beside it, this trophy looked very well-cared for.

There were a series of horns going all along the room's one window. The first belonged to the Bongo Antelope; they were heavy, long, and massive. They were also of the slightly spiral sort; they also had a reach of thirty-one inches, and had one and a half twists to them. These horns were hung on the bottom left side of the window. The next set of horns belonged to the Nyala Antelope; while their primary color was dark brown, their tips were yellow. They had a double twist to them. A set of Bontebok horns were across from them; they were both lyre-shaped and had a reach of nearly twenty inches. There were a series of clear rings on both of them. A Kudu rack hung under the Bontebok horns; along with being rather impressive, they were delicate-looking. To the naked eye, they looked right slender and fragile. With the exception of the tips being white, the Kudu rack was a nice, dark brown color; they had a length of about twenty-eight inches and had two and a half twists to them. A set of normal Wildebeest horns hung on the wall above the window.

He didn't need to ask if his son was taking care of the horns that were around his bedroom window—no fading of color could be noted, and no dust could be seen; they also had a good shine to them, and none of them had any breaks or cracks on them.

"Don't suppose you'd tell me why you and your brothers have the same stereo system in your rooms." he said after noticing the mini stereo that was on the bookcase's second shelf. There were a lot of music discs and magazines to the right of the system; he was quick to see that it was only the music that was carefully aligned. The magazines were piled up in an out-of-order sort of way.

"Ma got five of that system last year; they were late-birthday presents." Bile replied.

He thought that was a good explanation for each of his sons to have the same stereo system in their rooms—Angel had said something about her and the boys living abroad for all of six months about a month ago; unless they had something or packed something on them to listen to music on, they didn't have anything to listen to any music on during that time. Before looking at the bookcase's top shelf, he looked at the sword that was on the third shelf. The sword, which was on an acrylic stand, was mostly jade-made; the grip, cross-guards, and rain-guard were gold, while the obsidian pommel was shaped to resemble a lion that was roaring.

"Vile would take one look at this before declaring it a pile of junk," TazirVile thought. In his honest opinion, he wasn't very favoring towards the sword that was on the bookcase either but, in comparison to his nephew, who would probably be very vocal over his dislike of it, and would probably dispose of it after giving it a once-over, he wouldn't dare find himself speaking or touching it in a negative way. He just looked at it, thought that one sentence, then looked at the other items that were on the bookcase.

The first item that he looked at was a preserved North American Porcupine—an animal that had hollow spines, or quills, on its back and sides and that was mostly dark brown or black in color. The animal looked almost convincingly alive; he had to touch it to be sure that it was really deceased. A normal Muskrat skull was beside the Porcupine. The two skulls, that were on top of the bookcase, were facing one another; they, without a doubt, belonged to a species of wild cat. While he couldn't detect the species of what they belonged to, he could tell that the animal that they belonged to weren't full grown.

A preserved American hog-nosed Skunk was on the fourth shelf. While the animal was mostly black, there was a single, broad-white stripe going down its back that started from the top of its head then ended at the tip of its tail. The animal's fur looked right soft. The nose was pink. The animal had some right long front claws. The skunk was on the far end of the shelf; an oddly placed, juvenile Turkey was beside it.

"What in the Universe is this?" he asked as he took in the cat-like animal that was beside the Turkey.

"My Ring-tailed cat." Bile replied.

While he had seen a lot of animals in his life, and collected a lot of weird, and exotic, trophies during his hunts, he had never seen such an animal before in his life. The animal that his son called a Ring-tailed cat had buff to dark brown fur that had white underparts; it had a flashy black and white tail that had between fourteen and sixteen black and white stripes on it. The tail was longer than the rest of the animal—if his father was in the room instead of him, he'd bet that he'd compare it to a type of primate instead of to a "cat".

The last item that he looked at was quite large—it was a complete Black bear skull. Even though there were just four species of living, known bear on the planet, there was no doubt in his mind that the skull had once belonged to a male of that species. When he turned to look at the items that were on the room's one entertainment center, he noticed that there was a finely preserved Black bear pelt stretched across the baseboard of his son's bed.

"Think a certain son of mine has an interest in knives and swords." he said.

"Guilty as charged," Bile's smile was so broad that he was able to see the canines that were on his top and bottom jaws.

The hand carved, distressed entertainment system was nearly dominated by nothing but knives. There were a total of three shelves above it; two of them had a sword stretched across them while the third had a lone, stuffed toy on it—which he struggled to not look at right away. Before taking in the sword and toy, he looked at the center's many knives.

"Shouldn't be but so surprised," he thought as he took everything in. "Bile's father and grandfather have interests in knives; looks like he inherited that too."

The four knives, that were to the far left of the center's surface, were odd-looking; while he had seen a lot of knives in his existence, he hadn't seen any like these before. The first one had a turkey's foot for a handle; the blade looked to be made out of an Ox's horn. The second had the head and neck of a rattlesnake as its handle; the blade was made out of obsidian. When he gave the second knife a second look, he saw that it's snake head still had its eyes and fangs in it. The one that was beside it had a Snowshoe rabbit's foot as a handle; its blade looked to be made out of bone. The fourth knife in the set had a Coyote jawbone for a handle; a piece of translucent Obsidian was used for its blade. All four of these knives were housed on acrylic knife stands.

While they were in an array of shapes and designs, the other knives looked normal. Here was a knife that had a skull-designed handle on it that was wearing, what the humans called, a Viking helmet. The blade of this knife was wide; there were five holes in its center. Here was a twelve inch long Tanto knife that had skeletal art and etchings on its handle and sheath; the knife was on a matching skeletal hand stand. An executioner style axe, that had a skull between the two blades and a wire-wrapped grip, was beside the Tanto knife. Rather interestingly, the item that was in front of the weird-handled knives looked like a gun—though rude, he had to pick it up to see if it was what he thought it was.

After looking it over, then pressing its trigger, he found that it was a knife—the blade was four inches long and looked to be stainless steel. The whole outside, that contained the blade, was black and had skull designs on it. He sighed, then gave a relieved smile in his son's direction, after seeing what it really was; after doing them things, he placed it back on its stand.

"Find something that use to be a door knocker, Bile?" he asked after taking the metal, coiled snake from the hook of its adjustable stand. Once again, he was being rude in taking something from its station; unlike the last time, where he wanted a confirmation on whether the "gun" was a gun or not, it was pure curiosity that caused him to touch and then remove the coiled, metal snake from its stand.

"No, that's a small sword." Bile replied.

"Th... Bile, be real now. This can't be a sword. This has to be a door knocker." he said as he turned the coiled snake in his hands.

"Grasp the head-end of the snake then give a small pull. The sword's made out of a flexible steel material that's quite strong after being removed from its sheath."

He was blown away when he pulled a fifteen inch long, thin, and seemingly fragile blade from the coiled snake. Never in his long existence had he ever seen such a weapon before! He was tempted to ask his son if he could get the steel tested—something as unique as this could be a valuable asset in battle! He placed the sword on its stand then looked at the two remaining knives that were on the center.

An expensive-looking, red-brown leather sheath, and a set of brass knuckles, were lying before a rather ancient-looking knife that looked rather heavy. The handle of this knife was leather wrapped; a series of spikes were jutting up from the strip of metal that made it have a knuckle on it. This whole knife had a light bronze color to it; its blade was made of heavy, and thick, steel. One of the edges was serrated. The knife that was beside it had a wide blade on it that was just as shiny as could be; the handle, which went across one of the blade's edges, had a skull and crossbones design to it. The guard of the handle was set in a typical knuckle fashion, so one could fit his or her fingers in it.

A seemingly out-of-place, hardcover book was lying on its side beside the knife that had the knuckle-fashioned guard on it. When he picked it up, then read its title, he smiled. The Illustrated World Encyclopedia of Knives, Swords, Spears, and Daggers by Harvey J.S. Withers and Tobias Capwell; the material that the book was written on made it not so out-of-place now. He couldn't help but be proud of his boy for keeping the book near his displayed knives. He placed the book down then looked at the three shelves that were over the entertainment center.

"Think you'll need to put a security system around this, Bile." TazirVile said after seeing what he was. "Which of the two, longer swords that you have in your room is the one that you got from mother?"

"Jâd Cleddyf—the one that's on the bookcase." Bile replied.

The sword that he was looking at was approximately twenty-two inches long. The grip was designed to look like the body of a serpent, while the pommel was set to look like the head and neck of a serpent. The guards, which were designed to look like a leg-less dragon, were either made of real or imitation gold. The guards had a Kogatana blade—an Earth-made knife that was mostly used for utility purposes—and a brass-finish Kogai—an Earth-made pin that a warrior, who had long hair, would use to either keep their hair out of the way or aid them in keeping their hair in a bun—in it. The sword's sheath was black; there was a gold and green rope wrapped around its middle and close to its top. On the top, middle, and bottom of the sheath was an interrupted, gold plated serpent.

The sword was a beauty, and it must be worth a good, pricey penny—when Bile said that he found it in one of the nearby dumps, he had a hard time in voicing his disbelief. Someone threw out such a pricey, beautiful sword as this? How and why? He hoped that its tosser was in an insane asylum; swords like this were meant to be kept and displayed, not be thrown in the trash.

"Think I can ask you to sell me the next sword that you "find" in one of the area's dumps?" he asked as he took in the stuffed toy that was on the next shelf.

"If the price is right, sure." Bile said. "Just a head's up, though: I'm usually not one for selling or giving any of the knives, or swords, that I find away"

"Think your grandfather would chew one of your arms off for this." the stuffed toy looked right up his brother's alley. Though resembling a rabbit, it also looked like a monster. It had bugged out, yellow and white eyes, and big, yellow teeth. Its chin, chest, and belly were "covered" in fake blood.

"I have another to fight him off with if he ever sets his eyes on it." Bile said.

There were a total of four posters in the room. The one that was above the bed's headboard had a woman on it that was standing in its center. Non-surprisingly, the woman was wearing a bikini that had bead and lace designs on it. Her hair was tousled; she had a rather seductive expression on her face. This poster, much like the one that was closest to it, was in black and white. The poster, that was above the side of his son's bed, had yet another woman on it; she, who he couldn't place a name to for the life of him, was wearing a one-piece bathing suit. The suit's shoulder straps were sliding down her shoulders; a little bit of cleavage could be seen thanks to this. The woman was down, on her knees, in the ocean's tide; she had a very mysterious and sultry look on her face. The next poster was a colored one; it had yet another woman on it. The woman on this poster was lying on a piece of purple silk; she was wearing nothing but a black lace bra and panties.

"Nothing showing—scantily clad, but their parts are covered. No need to become a "paranoid" with any of these." he thought.

The room's final poster was over the corner desk. It had a blonde-haired, brown-eyed woman on it that was lying, stomach-down, on a bed that had a dark red comforter on it. The woman had a very naughty look on her face; a repeat of what happened with Lhaklar's poster would of happened if not for the _censored_ tag that was going across the only exposed part that could been seen on her.

He started in on the items that were on the long, two-shelf, rustic hickory wood bookcase that was to the left of the room after looking at the posters. All of the items that he was looking at were lamps... he found himself as liking two of them right away.

The first lamp was quite large; it was one of them lava-types that had a fluid in them that reacted to the bulb being warm. The fluid, that was in the fixture, was an orange-red color. Thanks to the lamp being on, there were great globs of reddish-orange fluid floating around in it. The next lamp was the one that he found himself liking the most; while it was another of them lava-types, its base and topper piece had all sorts of pumpkin and bat resin designs on it. This lamp, which was seventeen inches tall and about six inches wide, was also on; the dark yellow and orange fluid, that was in its globe, was floating all over the place.

Plasma lamps had only been out for a few thousand years... he wasn't but so surprised to see that his son had an interest in them. The skull-shaped plasma lamp, that was beside the one that had the resin details on its base and topper piece, was a mostly purple and black color. Like with the previous two lamps, it was also on. There were yellow, light blue, and light purple bolts shooting all around its glass interior.

The next lamp that he found himself as liking had a Coyote skull on it. The bulb, that was between the skull's jaws, was all lit up. One of them LED type lamps was beside the one that had a Coyote skull on it; this one had two sculpted dragons, that were standing guard over a mood-sensitive crystal ball, on it. The crystal ball was a light green color right now; fog, and a lot of it, was drifting ever so lightly from the lamp's high resin base.

"The evil in me wants to steal the lamp that has the resin-made bat designs on it." he said as he started in on the items that were on the room's other shelves.

"You may now march yourself out of my room." Bike, who had since gone back to lifting his dumbbells, joked.

The first of the three shelves that were to the left of the closet had five models on it. The first one was based off the lake-monster from the movie Legend—to this day, he still thought that the humans behind the film had gotten their hands on a photograph of his great-grandfather. He still thought that the film's main antagonist looked almost spot-on to the man. The model of Meg Mucklebones was a mostly tan-green color; fake weeds were hanging from its shoulders, wrists, and thighs. The model had fake doll hair on its head that was a greasy, grimy black color.

The following model was based off the film, Attack of the Crab Monsters—Angel was responsible for his knowing and having seen this campy, crappy 1957 movie. He lost all of sixty-two minutes on the day that he saw it, but that was okay... since he caused his wife to lose sixty-two minutes of the following day. Quite surprisingly, the model was very impressive; the goofy teeth, that were in the crab-monster's mouth, were outlandish, but the rest of the model looked cool. A model of a scantily clad cavewoman being "attacked" by two ravenous Velociraptors was beside the Attack of the Crab Monsters model and a model of a... sexy as hell marine girl standing over a defeated alien beast was beside that. The shelf's final model was of a female representation of the Predator; he looked at it for a minute before turning his gaze to the next shelf.

"And, of the five, one won't be allowed to be put on display." he thought. The first model was of a dark-skinned woman, who was bending over a stone, Gothic stool that had plenty of skulls on it. The woman was wearing a tight corset that wasn't covering her top; she had red heeled boots on her feet, a collar with chain attachment, and ankle and wrist guards that also had chain attachments on them. When he chanced a closer look at this model, he saw that she had absolutely nothing covering her bottom half—her ass could be seen... as could her vagina!

A model that depicted the monster from the movie Tremors was beside the model of the dark-skinned woman. Bile had done the model rather well; it did look like a mini-version of a Graboid. The acrylic stand, that was beside the Tremor model, had a pocketknife on it that looked to have an olive-wood handle on it. The stand, that was beside the pocketknife, had a "small", rustic hatchet on it that had a red-brown leather wrapped grip on it. He thought that the pocketknife and hatchet were oddly placed on the shelf; instead of being where they were, they should of been placed with the other knives. The final model that was on the second shelf depicted Frankenstein's bride; while the stacked, black and white hair, was normal, the garment wasn't. The model was wearing a skin-tight, white dress that's left shoulder was completely hanging from the body part that it was suppose to cover. The model's left breast could be seen, and so could the nipple of the right one. Like with the model of the dark-skinned woman, this one wouldn't have a chance to be put up after the move to Moas was done.

The model of a bleach-white skinned woman, that was wearing a skin-tight, black leather outfit, was the first one that he looked at on the final shelf. The model, that was beside it, was of a woman that was wearing a gold collar that had a chain attachment on it; the model was wearing a gold and green bra-piece and a long, gold belted, purple loin cloth. A model of a dark-haired woman, that had a yellow and white snake draped over her shoulders, was beside the one of the woman that was wearing a loin cloth; this one was wearing nothing more than a brown bra piece and panties. It looked like she was "dancing" with the snake that was draped over her shoulders. The shelf's final model was of a ugly-faced, beady-eyed Troll—an actual Troll; the humans, over the last two-millenia, had really gotten it wrong on the species that he employed... Their perception of the Goblin race had caused many of his staff to get either upset or angry over their continually calling them Trolls.

"You've got a very nicely arranged room, son." TazirVile said as he went towards the door. "Don't suppose you'd oppose to having the chamber that's beside the one that you'll be using on Moas to be attached to it—with all of what you have in here, it'd be a shame if you got "lost" in your chamber, or if it started looking cluttered now would it?"

"Actually, think that's a good idea." Bile, who suddenly stopped lifting his dumbbells, said.

"I'll put the word out for the chamber that's to the left of yours to be emptied of its furnishing and then made ready for all of what you have in here." TazirVile said. He was just leaving the room when his son cleared his throat; Bile stood to his full height then walked over to where he was. What he said caused his blood to go cold.

"Just a head's up, pop—I haven't forgotten what happened between us this morning. I have plans in exposing it during supper tonight." Bile warned.

"What I did in preventing you from driving that car needed to be done, Bile. You're too young to be driving, you have no license to drive, and you don't know how to dr—" he started to say.

"I've had a license for a little over three hundred years now; I know well how to drive a car." Bile said.

"Bile—"

"And ma knows about me having a license to drive and about me knowing how to drive a car. She taught me herself, and she also paid for me to have the tests and then for my license to be made after I passed them." Bile said.

"Do I need to slam a punishment on you for trying to intimidate me, Bile? I stand by my actions and I'm sure that your mother will agree with me on why I took them k—"

"Uh-huh, we'll see what ma says after I bring it up at supper tonight."

They stared at one another for a few seconds before parting; a noticably stiff-walking TazirVile went down the hall—thoughts of his sleeping on the couch again, and of his being cast out of the house, then being barred from entering the shield that was over the town that his family was living in, haunted him the whole time he was going down the hall and then down the stairs—while Bile closed his bedroom door then went back to lifting his dumbbells.


	10. Chapter 10

When the information appeared on the interactive whiteboard, all of them tuned into it. The one who was presenting it to them was given an equal amount of attention. Standing to the left of the whiteboard was a tall, and modestly built woman who was both thirty-seven and had a tendency to be arrogant and bitchy. Despite her arrogant and bitchy ways, they were required to hear her out; about four years ago, they didn't have to deal with this. The one who held the position of Chief of their country's security was of the male gender and quite pleasant and level-headed—everyone agreed that the one who took over his position started her arrogant, bitchy ways right after being promoted to what she was.

According to the interactive whiteboard, the levels of concern for their country's security had dropped phenomenally in the last month. The ones who took up residence in their country were now gone, the shields that were over their part of the planet weren't penetrated in over a month, and any and all threats to civilians from folk of alien origin had plummeted to zero. Master Vile, the ruthless scoundrel who took over the American continents last year, was only seen as "minding" the shields that were on their side of the planet a handful of times—on the twentieth of April and on the first, fifteenth, twenty-first, and twenty-secondth of May—as well. With the exception of Master Vile still being an occasional visitor of their side of the planet, and his troops still being where they were outside of the shields, everything was back in order and looked to be normal again.

Or, so he and most everyone who were seated at the table thought. Bettina Gottlieb, the one who was the chief of their country's security, was sure that the cease in security breaching and alien activity was only a ruse; she still thought that they should kick a family that was residing in their country for nearly a year out and she still thought that their planet's heroine wasn't needed anymore—which was a shock! Angel Irene, as far as he was concerned, was still needed and was still powerful enough to slam any invading monster and/or alien down... and she was still helping them in staying safe from her evil fader's clutches as well.

Putting the ones that took up the Rastatter Rheinaue nature reserve on the secondth of October to the side, Miss. Irene still had their backs and was still helping to protect them. Did they not have proof of that? If he recalled correctly, Miss. Irene had personally seen to strengthening a few of the shields that were over their side of the planet soon after establishing herself in their country; putting the six hours that Berlin was open to attack by that villainous Vile to the side, she also put a new shield over Berlin after the old one was felled by the alien that he was all too glad to see gone. She aided a bunch of refugees in reaching the safety of the shield that was over the town of Steinmauern on the twenty-seventh of January, and she also saw to sending most everyone who was in the restaurant known as Sushi Circle, that was in the city of Bonn, to a safer location after that same alien, who was responsible for the old shield over Berlin being taken down, had shown up and then started reeking havoc on everyone who was inside.

Miss. Irene shouldn't be spoken of or included in the meeting yet Bettina Gottlieb had made a "special" point in doing so. To the extreme lower right of the whiteboard was a bunch of data that was on no other person than their planet's heroine. He, and the president, had both sighed after it was seen on the board.

Date of Known Residency: July 31, 4100  
Location of Residency: Elchesheim-Illingen; 54253 Zweig Straße. The Grün Bach subdivision  
Number of Noted Residents: 6 (1 adult woman, 5 teenage boys)  
Occupation: Head of family works in the town's local food mart—U-Krop-it. Second oldest son reportably works in one of the two malls in the nearby city of Karlsruhe—the mall that's in the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center is where he's said to be employed at.  
Noted Properties: 1 house (2-level, with basement and attic) and 2 vehicles (a Porsche D2 and an i8 BMW)  
Status On Properties: Paid in full; no mortgage or car payments required to be made by family  
Bill Status: On time; no referrals on record  
Extra Information: 4 of the 5 boys are unemployed; all have driver's licenses and clean driving records. The head of the family also has a driver's license and clean driving record. The residence is known to have a number of animals in it—a cat and several undisclosed reptiles and amphibians. The 2 employed members of the family are said to be on-time for their appointed times at work; both the head of the family and the secondborn son have good working records.  
Family Status: Still active; residency of Elchesheim-Illingen (Germany) on-going  
Date of Alien/Monster Occupation: October 2, 4100 (2 months and 2 days after noted residency)  
Location of Alien/Monster Occupation: The Rastatter Rheinaue nature reserve  
Explanation of Monster/Alien Occupation: To retrieve the members of their family that are known to be residing in the town of Elchesheim-Illingen.  
Date of Monster/Alien Evacuation: April 17, 4101 5:58 PM  
Reason for Evacuation of Known Occupation Zone: Unknown; it's speculated that the weather is the cause for their swift departure.

"Excuse me," Katharina Fuchs, who was seated to his immediate right, said. "Why, exactly, has information on our planet's heroine been included in what you wanted to show us?"

"She has had numerous contacts with the issue that plagued us for six months," Bettina Gottlieb, a woman who had platinum-blonde hair and chartreuse-green eyes, answered. "In accord to the breaches that our country has encountered between October of 4100 and February of this year, she could well of been working for the ones who resided in the Rast—"

"Bull!" Wilda Schmidt, one of the few younger women in the room, who had rather pretty, vibrant red hair and brown eyes, exclaimed. She was seated directly across from him. "If she was working in co-horts with them, we'd of known about it."

"The shields over our side of the planet would of been taken down a long time ago if that was true." Katharina Fuchs's graying brown hair, that was currently set in a half-up, half-down fashion, went from her left shoulder to her right as she shook her head at Bettina. The woman, who was nearing forty-three years of age, trained her brown eyes on no one other than Bettina; everyone else was seemingly "forgotten" by her. "I see no reason for you to be continually bringing her up, and slandering her name."

"She did nothing in ousting them aliens and monsters from the Rastatter Rheinaue nature reserve." Bettina tried to point out. "She, and her family, went by their lives as if they weren't here. That, in itself, is incrim—"

"So did a good many of other folk." Wilda Schmidt pointed out. "No evacuations of families, no swift exits of our country, no civil unrests, and no civil disobedience happened after the reserve was occupied by them people."

"Thanks for calling me and mine a criminal, Bettina." Sigmar Röttgen, an aging Afro-German, who was wearing a slate-gray suit, said. "You might as well of said that everyone in the country who retained a normal way of life after them monsters and aliens showed up is a criminal."

"Absolutely not, Mr. Röttgen." Bettina said in her defense. "With the exception of Master Vile and his monster-filled military, and Miss. Irene and her family, everyone on this planet is human and has no powers or responsibilities over worrying about our planet's safety. Miss. Irene has obviously dropped her interest in protecting our planet and in helping u—"

"Do I need to remind or show you the logged security footage of what happened in Sushi Circle?" the country's president, Stefan A. Leinart, asked Bettina, who suddenly got a real defeated look on her face. The president didn't wait for an answer; he stood up then started speaking of the events that took place in Bonn on the seveneenth of February. "If I bore anyone, I apologize, but I do believe that what took place on that night needs to be spoken of."

There were nine in the room, but only seven of them were seated. Bettina had busted her buns to ensure that all who were associated with the more important cabinets of his country's government were at the meeting. Everyone who received a memo from her was here. Katharina Fuchs was the current president minister of the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth; had been for nearly six years. Wilda Schmidt was the current minister of the Federal Ministry of Health; had been for a little over a year. Sigmar Röttgen, who was seated to the left of Katharina Fuchs, was the current minister of the Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety; had been for nearly three years. A man by the name of Gustav Maihofer was to his right; he was the current minister of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. A man by the name of Erhard Scheel was seated between Wilda Schmidt and the president; he was the chief of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The final member of their group was a woman by the name of Ursula Arendt; along with being two seats down from Wilda Schmidt, she was the chief of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

He was one of the final ones to show up. From what he was told, Mrs. Gottlieb had thought long and hard over sending a memo about the meeting to his secretary. The woman, for the last few months, had found herself as not liking him much. The feeling was honestly mutual with him. What did he do to get so under her skin? He, as a friend of his planet's heroine, had stood up for Miss. Irene on numerous occasions and had personally seen to dishing out a sort of "spanking" to the one who swore their heroine as no longer being on their side. The president was the main one in "spanking" and denying Mrs. Gottlieb of her wish in having their planet's heroine and her family removed from the country... Mr. Leinart was the third recipient of the memo; Mrs. Gottlieb had, obviously, had no issue in double-thinking her memo-sending when it came to him. The fact that Mr. Leinart was the reason behind Miss. Irene having it "so good" here in their country, and that he was very close to the ones that Mrs. Gottlieb was out to get, seemed to either be overlooked or ignored by Mrs. Gottlieb—course, no one really needed them two facts to be brought up or spoken of.

It was known to pretty much everyone who worked in the government of his country that the president was exceptionally good friends with the heroine and her family and it was also known that he was the reason behind their having no mortgage or car payments to mail or issue out. The man had personally seen to paying for the house that the family lived in; one of the two cars that were owned by the family had also been paid in full by him. All of the main furnishings that were in the Irene house had also been paid for by him; Mr. Leinart had thrown a lot of money around for the Irene's and, as far as he was able to tell, they weren't walking all over or taking advantage of his generosity.

"Sushi Circle was rented out for a party, by which we and our spouses, and a bunch of the high-ranking government officials of the North American continent, attended. By my actions, Miss. Irene was called and then asked to attend it; she arrived at six-thirty. For, say, two and a half hours, we had the restaurant, and the night, to ourselves—we danced, talked, and had a good time. Up to that one Troll that fell out of the ceiling, nothing amiss happened." the president, who, regardless of recently turning fifty-four years of age, had a headful of orange-brown hair, and hazel-colored eyes, started. "A lot of people were injured after the Trolls, and their leader, appeared. Mr. Maihofer and the American Vice President, Victor J. Turcotte, were diagnosed as receiving a concussion from the events that happened on that night; while nothing serious was noted on Mrs. Fuchs, a bruise did appear on her left cheek and her jaw became swollen; Mrs. Gottlieb, you was given a hell of a slap that knocked you out cold. Two women by the name of Mrs. Faith Adams and Mrs. Nicole Warner were thrown. Mr. Ballal's wife came out of the night with a severely broken left arm. Mr. Ballal had a concussion and severe lacerations to his right arm; he also came out of the night with two deep cuts to the back of his head and a severe eye injury. Even I, ladies and gentlemen, was injured on that night.

"Sometime after I was thrown from the building, our heroine, who, must I add, was grieved with crippling abdominal pain at the time that this occurred, got the alien's attention. While she engaged him, she used her powers to send everyone that she could see out of the building. Miss. Irene was no more at fault for what happened on that night than we were; we were doing nothing more than enjoying ourselves. That alien and them Trolls are the ones to blame for what happened."

"The reason behind what happened at Sushi Circle is really quite clear, President Leinart." Bettina said after swallowing. "Them aliens were following her. If she wasn't at the restaurant, none of what happened would of happened. The same goes with the other events that either she or one of her sons were involved in or with."

A set of data suddenly appeared on the board; as expected, it was all about their heroine and her family... and the events that they were involved in and that the aliens and monsters made an appearance to. He rolled his eyes, then leaned back in his chair; on estimate, Bettina would be allowed to show this and only this information before getting "disciplined". He was surprised that the president hadn't given her that "disciplining". No one wanted nor needed Miss. Irene, or her family, to be brought up—the true cause of the meeting was on temporary pause until Mrs. Gottlieb either had her fill of talking about the Irene's or President Leinart started in on her.

Event Name: Oktoberfest II  
Date of Attendance: October 23, 4100  
Time of Attendance: Unknown; more than 2 video logs show their being there at 8:17 PM  
Time of Departure: Unknown; more than 2 video logs show probable departure happening at 11:30 PM  
Reason Behind Departure: The thirdborn son (Hazaar) was assaulted in the gaming section of the fair by 2 folk of alien origin; the firstborn and secondborn sons (Bile and Lhaklar) were assaulted in the fair's parking lot by 1 other folk of alien origin. Video footage shows that a possible third assault on a member of the family was made in the same parking lot at nearly the same time as the other noted parking lot assaults.  
Notes: Oktoberfest II was closed soon after the noted assaults were made; 3 folk of Gray-alien origin, 1 folk that looked like Master Vile, and 2 folk of Troll origin were noted as being at it. All but 2 of the non-human attendees are said to of had violent tendencies towards fair occupants. The alien that looked like Master Vile scared half a dozen still-present civilians at around 1 in the morning; all alien and Troll attendees left the fairgrounds at around 1:30 AM.

Event Name: Rescuing of Secondborn Son from the Rastatter Rheinaue Nature Reserve  
Date of Attendance: November 8, 4100  
Time of Attendance: Video log of Steinmauern store shows Miss. Irene appearing near the southern-lying shield of the town at 7:25 PM  
Time of Departure: 7:45 PM  
Reason Behind Departure: Successful retrieval of son  
Notes: With the exception of one felled Troll, no human injuries or casualties occurred. The secondborn son (Lhaklar) was taken to the camp in the reserve after having a violent confrontation with Master Vile; Lhaklar was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of several injuries. His mutter, and family friends, Mr. Stefan A. Leinart and Mr. Ajeet Mahatma Ballal, went with him.

Event Name: Shield Over Berlin Being Removed  
Date of Involvement: December 23, 4100  
Time of Involvement: 11:45 AM  
Time of Cease Involvement: 12:58 AM  
Notes: The second and thirdborn sons (Lhaklar and Hazaar) were seen as entering the Chancellery at 11:30 AM; a visit to Mr. Stefan A. Leinart was made before they left the building. Video logs from the Chancellery show both boys as being cornered along the fence by a trove of Trolls and a single alien. A 45-minute chase through Berlin occurred; the alien obviously wanted the younger boy. Mr. Ajeet Mahatma Ballal was involved, as was Mr. Stefan A. Leinart and a helicopter pilot named Mr. Hans Seiderman. Video logs from several medical buildings within Berlin city show that another alien joined the chase about fifteen minutes later. While injuries to Trolls and both aliens are noted, no injuries or casualties occurred with Berlin citizens. Berlin was susceptible to attack by Master Vile for all of six hours before a new shield was put over it.

Event Name: Assisting American Refugees Into Germany  
Date of Involvement: January 27, 4101  
Time of Involvement: 2:45 AM; event took place at 7:57 AM  
Time of Cease Involvement: 8:10 AM  
Notes: American Refugees were taken to the City of Rastatt's Maquet Deutschland GmbH; Miss. Irene went with them. Thirty minutes of no activity occurred, then 4 Trolls appeared in the room that Miss. Irene was taken to. An attempted abduction occurred before 1 of the 4 Trolls and Mr. Ajeet Mahatma Ballal had a violent altercation; video logs in elevator show that another of the Trolls had a violent altercation with Mr. Ajeet Mahatma Ballal and Mr. Stefan A. Leinart. An increase in security breaching and illegal shield entrances occurred after this event happened.

Event Name: Abduction of Younger Irene Boy  
Date of Involvement: February 1, 4101  
Time of Involvement: 10:55 AM  
Time of Cease Involvement: 11:05 AM  
Notes: The secondborn (Lhaklar) and fourthborn (Lazeer) sons of Angel Irene were seen as entering the Kulisse Kino movie theater, located in Rheinland Kaserne, Ettlingen, at 8:15 AM. They saw a film by the name of Attack of the Tumbleweeds with 30 other people; no issues were encountered during their stay in the building. After exiting the theater, they went to a nearby convenience store; video logs from the store show the older of the boys purchasing 2 coffees. 8 Trolls appeared soon after the boys exited the store; the older boy is shown on security footage as collapsing, and then being sent to an undisclosed location. The younger boy is shown on the same security footage as fighting 2 of the 8 Trolls; the abduction occurred five minutes after the altercation occurred. Substantial damage occurred to the parking lot belonging to Jacques Meyer's Culinarium. The street of Steigenhohlstraße sustained minor damage as well. No injuries or casualties occurred in this event to civilians.

Event Name: Sushi Circle Dance  
Date of Attendance: February 17, 4101  
Time of Attendance: 6:30 PM  
Time of Departure: 8:10 PM  
Reason Behind Departure: 5 Trolls and 1 alien appeared; a number of assaults were made before departure was done.  
Note: More than 10 were injured on the night of the dance; video logs at the restaurant show that 2 of the Trolls pursued their target of interest (Miss. Irene) after she was removed from the building. Sushi Circle wasn't fully vacated until fifteen minutes later; the leader of the Trolls ordered a complete search of the building. Martial law was initiated after more than four waves of Trolls in military attire penetrated the shields over the districts of Ortenaukreis, Freudenstadt, and Calw; the shields over Prignitz, Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Oberhavel, and Uckermark were also penetrated by Trolls wearing military attire. Martial law wasn't removed until 10 days later.

"By any chance are you going to ask for me and my family to vacate the country next?" Ajeet Mahatma Ballal, an Indian man, who had near-white hair, that was cut in a typical military undercut, and deep brown eyes, asked Bettina. "You've mentioned me on three of them six listed events; I honestly feel threatened."

"I see nothing incriminating in the data that you've shown us." Erhard Scheel, a big, mid-aged, man, who had mid-long, brown hair and green eyes, said. "I see normal activities being done by a family of six that are, sadly, cut short by the actions of folk who are obviously out to prevent them from living a normal, happy life."

"Can we please return to the real reason behind this meeting? Instead of speaking of the Irene's, and wasting time in speaking of an issue that shouldn't be spoken of in the first place, we should be speaking of our country's security and of the other issues that we've been asked to look into." Ursula Arendt, a mid-aged woman with prominent Greek features—an olive skin complexion; long and wavy, dark brunette hair; and amber-colored eyes—, said.

The real topics that the meeting was meant to revolve around were then spoken of. With the exception of the topics that revolved around the military, and with the still ongoing, unpredictable weather, he was mostly quiet and still in his chair. Since most of the topics didn't require his immediate attention, he turned his thoughts to his primary concern: his inability to reach the Irene's.

Over the last few months, he wasn't able to stay connected to the family as much as he wanted to. He and his family—his wife of twelve years, Gretel, and their two children, Haimi and Chayla—were forced to vacate the house that they lived happily in for twelve, long years. The situation with the shield-penetrating Trolls, and the odd, little feeling that he and his wife felt in their old home for all of a few weeks, was the cause behind their vacancy. He and his family had lived with his adult daughter from a previous engagement, Nisa, and her husband, Wolfgang Ketterle, and their three children for all of a few weeks before the move to their new, safe house was made.

While the acquiring of the new house was easy, the purchasing of new furnishing for it was daunting. Normal people would take their old furnishings from their old home then set it up in their new one; with knowing how he and his wife felt about the old house, and with his worry over their being followed to the new one heavy on his mind, he made the decision to just equip the new house with all new furnishing items. He'd go to work in the Bendlerblock building during the day hours then he'd go to work in finding and then purchasing the items that would fill the new house during the night hours; this was a hard schedule for him. He had spent a good many of days fighting fatigue, and the urge to just collapse over his desk then take a long nap, but it was all worth it. The only items that were retrieved from the old house were his family's clothing, the children's toys, his wife's collectibles, his and his wife's diploms—the German form of a diploma—, and any known informative items that he and his family had; the rest of what was in the house was still there.

His attempts to get in contact with the Irene's started on the twenty-sixth of May. He didn't know if his number was blocked, or if the family was just busy and couldn't reach the phone in time to answer him, but he wasn't able to reach them. With each placed call that he made to Miss. Irene's cellular phone, he'd get a message back saying that the number that he called wasn't able to be reached or that the one that he was trying to call wasn't accepting calls; any and all calls that were made to the Irenes' landline ended in equal failure. He was meaning to ask the only other man that had the Irenes' cellular and landline number if he was able to get through for a few days now but, as fate would so dish it, he was prevented from doing so.

He had plans in changing that after this meeting was done. If he could catch and then speak with President Leinart, he'd get an answer on why he wasn't able to contact the Irene's. He saw no reason behind his number being blocked; with the exception of his going exclusive to get his family's new home all set-up for them, he had done nothing wrong to the family and no rifts had happened between he and Miss. Irene. He should be able to contact them.

"Only good thing behind Bettina's "obsession" with the Irene's is the confirmation of their still being in Elchesheim-Illingen, and Germany." he thought.

The meeting had a span of nearly two hours; he was quiet and uninvolved for all of forty-five minutes before the call was made for it to end. Everyone collected the items that were on the table before them quietly; with the exception of Bettina, no one was quick in leaving the room. The slightly in-appropriate, aqua-blue, lace dress, that Bettina was wearing, cast an odd glow against the frame of the door when she left the room. Katharina Fuchs's lace V-neck, long sleeve, purple dress was also slightly in-appropriate, but none of them really took notice of it. One who worked in an office would usually wear less attractive clothing; Bettina Gottlieb, who, if he was correct, was on her second husband, and Katharina Fuchs, who was twice divorced and currently single, were a little too attractively dressed for work that day. The dress that Wilda Schmidt was wearing, which was black and nearly sleeveless, was very appropriate for her career; Ursula Arendt's dress, which wasn't only red but also sported an A-line lace design on its hemline, was also appropriate for her career. With the exception of him, the men were wearing tuxedos.

Katharina collected her things then left the room. Gustav Maihofer, who was wearing a dark red suit, tie, and shoes, followed behind her a few seconds later. Erhard Scheel, who was wearing a normal, black tuxedo, and Sigmar Röttgen left the room next. The president left the room next; he grabbed the items that he was piddle-farting with since the meeting's conclusion then ran off in pursuit of him.

The building that they were in was big. It was very easy to either lose yourself or one of your touring party in it and it was also easy to lose track of the one, or ones, that you're trying to catch up to. Except for the glass dome, that had a staircase that spiraled up to the building's roof inside it, and the transparent glass handrails, that were on the stairs and walls, that allowed for visitors to see the goings-on of certain working politicians, the building's interior had a resemblance to a historical museum. A lot of the ruins of the old building were preserved over the years; the masonry structure was still in its original shape, as were some parts where there was writing from Soviet soldiers.

The Reichstag, as it was called, was an old building—historical records said that its construction began in 1871; the completion of that construction occurred on June 9, 1884. The first renovation occurred in 1961; it lasted for all of three years before being completed in 1964. A second, and final, renovation occurred in 1992. It was very readily agreed that the second renovation was better received by both the government and the people of his country; it restored a nearly lost landmark, and its historical significance to both the country that it belonged to and the people that lived in it.

"Mr. Leinart!" Ajeet said after seeing the backside of the man that he was trying to reach. "Mr. Leinart, wait up!"

A throng of civilians, that he took as being tourists, nearly prevented him from reaching the man that he was trying to gain the attention of. He wrestled through two groups of five women, then was forced to wait for two groups of three, hallway-hogging men to allow him to pass by, then found himself as having to nearly re-route his path after a group of children started congregating around one of the many preserved stones that some of the afore mentioned Soviet writing was on, before finally finding himself with clear passage to the president—who, as miraculous as it seemed, was still on the very hallway that he was traveling down.

He went down the rest of the hallway uninterrupted then, after reaching the area where the president was, stretched his arm out. The president, who stood five foot, eight inches, turned to look at him almost at once; he repressed the relieved sigh that he wanted to emit then addressed him.

"Thought I'd lose ya," Ajeet said.

"Whoa now, Ajeet. Professional relationship only; no touchy-feely business is allowed to happen between us." the president replied.

"Feeling's mutual on that," Ajeet said. Ajeet followed the president down the hallway, then out the building, before speaking to him again. "Think you'll agree with feeling all mutual on the issue of them aliens and monsters finally being gone from our soil."

"Damn right, Mr. Ballal. The wild weather to the side, everything's settled down and we're back on schedule again." the president replied.

"We'll really be on track again when the weather returns to being normal." Ajeet said as he followed the president across the strips of grass that were between the Reichstag and the Chancellery.

"I'm putting a memo to the ones who control the weather gauges—good, pleasant weather would greatly be appreciated for the next six months to a year."

He decided to change the subject of the conversation; with business having just been concluded in the Reichstag, he hadn't had a desire to drop his concern on the president's lap or cause the man to become agitated with him. Stefan A. Leinart had won his campaign for the open presidency slot nearly a year and a half ago; while he was a good president, and business man, he did have a tendency to be a bit of a "meanie". While no red head by any means, he did have a temper and he knew well on how to release or use it.

"Don't suppose you've encountered any issues this past week with your cellular or landline phones?" he asked.

"Other than my son playing snip with that one wire in my office, no." the president replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Been trying to call Miss. Irene's cellular and landline numbers for all of a week now. I either get a message on her cellular that says she's not accepting calls, or I'm told after calling her landline number that the number that I've called cannot be reached." he decided to be as descriptive as can be; who knew, maybe an issue was happening with the family that even the president wasn't aware of. "When was the last time you spoke with Miss. Irene?"

"Thanks to you, I feel rather low right now. I've not called or spoken to her, or any of the boys, in over a month now. Work and family have kept me quite busy, you know." Stefan said after stopping to give it a wonder on how long it was since he called or spoke to his friend.

With the issue of when his last correspondence was with Miss. Irene now spoken of, Stefan switched the office file that he had in his right hand over to his left then started sifting through the pocket of his pants. A small, burgundy and silver cellular phone was removed from that pocket a few seconds later... as were a few euro coins, which splashed to the concrete noisily. As Ajeet aided in the collection of his pocket change, Stefan dialed the number to the Irenes' landline.

He was in his secondary office when he learned of the family's whereabouts. A realtor by the name of Arnold Heiberg had phoned the Chancellery with the news; his call was forwarded to his secondary office soon after the reason behind the man's call was exposed. He came very close to breaking his neck in getting down to Baden-Baden, and to the real estate office of Maxas, after telling the man to keep his client in his office; the exceptionally beautiful woman was waiting for him when he got there, as had all of the information that he asked Mr. Heiberg to acquire for him in housing that'd be appropriate for a family of five to live in. At the time of his meeting Miss. Irene, he had thought that she had four sons to take care of; he was blown away by her claim of having five instead of four, and he came very close to swallowing and then choking on his own tongue after seeing who said fifth son looked like after meeting and then persuading Miss. Irene into his Shuttle Van.

Getting a six-bedroom home for the family, and then getting it furnished and then equipped with all the utilities that a normal family uses, and then purchasing a brand spankin' new car for the head of the family to drive, and then making a personal withdrawal of €5,000 from one of his bank accounts, wasn't an issue to him at all. He was more than happy to help them out, and be on friendly terms with them. His entire family knew about his friendship with the planet's heroine; so did the government of his country, for that matter. Plenty of joke-making and elbow-throwing were thrown in his direction about his budding friendship with the "royal" family; he took it all in stride.

"Thank y... yes, hello—" Ajeet, who had just given his country's president his spilled coinage back, gave Stefan a long, hard look. Stefan's brow was all furrowed; his round and youthful face took on the very look of confusion for all of a second before clearing up. "I must have the wrong number, sorry."

Stefan, who could swear that he dialed the right number, pressed the END-button on his cellular then dialed again. He knew the Irene landline number by heart and he could practically dial Miss. Irene's cellular number in his sleep; the one who answered his call wasn't Miss. Irene, or one of her sons. A teenage girl, who had a young, feminine-sounding voice, had answered on the secondth ring; Miss. Irene had no teenage girls living under her roof, so he automatically made the assumption that he dialed the wrong number.

"Hello?" Stefan looked at Ajeet; yet again, for the second time in less than a minute, that same teenage girl had answered the number that he dialed. Stefan cleared his throat—the sticky feeling that he had in his throat, and the sour taste that suddenly crept into his mouth, wasn't what he wanted to deal with on that day—, then spoke into the phone as pleasantly as he could.

"Do I have the wrong number again? I'm sorry, Miss., but I'm trying to reach a friend of mine that I've not spoken with in over a month." his smooth voice was instantly overshadowed by confusion notes. He and the teenage girl said no more to one another; they hung up at the same time.

"When was the last time you called Miss. Irene's landline number?" Stefan asked Ajeet.

"Uh... don't hold me to it but I think my last correspondence with that mode of technology happened before the seventeenth of February." Ajeet answered.

"Do you recall what the number was?" Stefan asked.

"Yes—07245-4351-656."

"I just called that number twice," Stefan said. "Some teenage girl answered."

"Teenage girl?" Ajeet's right eye, the one that was put in temporary "darkness" twice in the recent six months by the Trolls, dropped as he gave Stefan a funny look. "You must of called the wrong number; Miss. Irene has teenage sons in her home, not daughters."

"I'll try again." Stefan said. He spoke each number that he dialed as he called the landline that he was trying to reach then waited until his call was answered. The pit of his stomach dropped a degree after the same girl answered.

"Hello?" the girl said. "Who's this?"

"Uh, well can you please tell me who you are before discovering who you're talking to?" Stefan asked the girl.

"Eshal," the girl said.

"Eshal, pretty name there." Stefan looked at Ajeet before addressing the girl. "I'm trying to reach the Irene number—Miss. Angel Irene is the one that I'm trying to reach. Am I calling the right number or—"

"Mam's not home right now." the girl said. "She'll be soon, though. Can I take a message for her?"

"Did I call the right number?" Stefan asked again. "The Irene number—"

"Uh-huh, this is that number."

Ajeet watched as the color seemingly washed from Stefan's face. The man's face went from being its mildly tan color to bleach-white in a fraction of a second; the man, who weighed close to two hundred and twenty-five pounds, suddenly looked very sick... and he also looked to be having a time in standing on his feet! Ajeet dropped the files that he had in his hand then lunged in the president's direction; his hand was no more placed on his arm before he snapped his cellular shut then bolted in the direction of the parking lot that was near the Chancellery.

It was through two bridges, that had appointed guards at one of their ends, that politicians and tourists alike were allowed passage to where the main seat of his government worked at. The Chancellery; the Paul-Löbe-Haus, one of the functional buildings that belonged to the German government; the Reichstag, which was directly beside the Paul-Löbe-Haus; and the Schweizerische Botschaft, or Swiss Embassy, were all neatly sandwiched between two nicely tended parks. The park that was to his immediate right was flat; there were a few tall trees, which had a single bench under them, in it. The park that was to his immediate left was also flat, but it had a lot more trees and shrubbery in it.

The Spree river, from which the two bridges that allowed politicians and tourists alike access to the area, was flowing by at its usual, leisurely slow pace. Unlike the Reichstag and Paul-Löbe-Haus, which had a conjoined parking lot that was to their immediate right, the Chancellery's parking lot was located across the bridge that the Willy-Brandt-Straße ran across. He charged across the bridge, then went straight to the parking lot, then practically tore the driver's side door of his gray-colored, two-door, Elantra Coupe X5 open. He dove into his car while digging the keys from the pocket that they were put in earlier that day; with the keys stuck in the ignition, and his car started, he sped off. The tires of his car left skid-marks in the place where it was formerly parked in; with his heart currently pounding away in his chest, and his brain throbbing in his terror, and his blood going a mile a minute in his veins, and his hair practically standing on end, he sped down the street towards the autobahn that would take him to the first of many underground tunnels that his planet's heroine had created to ensure safe travel between the non-connected shielded parts of his country that she made over two thousand years ago.

"Only when there's an emergency going on do you speed," he remembered telling his oldest daughter, Sophie Annelise Leinart, who he and his wife commonly called Annelise, one day after she came home with a ticket, which was only given to her because she was spotted as speeding down a stretch of road in west Berlin. "And, even if an emergency comes up, and you find yourself having to speed to your destination, you never lose track of where you are or of the people that are around you."

In his fifty-four years of living, he had only acquired a handful of tickets and, of them handful of tickets that he was given, only three were for speeding. His wife and oldest daughter would be all eyes in a few days, after more than four tickets showed up in the mailbox that sat before their house that was near the Hansaviertel locality that was in Berlin, between the Großer Tiergarten park and the Spree river. After hearing what he just heard, and realizing who it was that was talking in the background of the residence that he called, he lost track of his good senses; the only real thing that sat on his mind right now was the six-hour drive that he had before him. Elchesheim-Illingen, a place that he hadn't visited in well over a month, was his destination; God willing, was he going to make it there in less than six hours and, God willing, he'd find everyone in the house in good health and shape.

Unbeknown to Ajeet Ballal, the Indian man who was the Chief of his country's Federal Armed Forces, he and his family had also become a sort of victim to feeling their residence not being safe. For all of a month, from May to the mid-part of April, they felt a... presence looking, or watching, over them. At first, they shrugged it off, then, after the first week went past, they noticed that the feeling had gotten more noticeable. The atmosphere in his house, and in his office in the Chancellery, had inexplicably changed; he and his had gone by their usual way of life as best they could, regardless of the feeling and the change in their living space's atmosphere. More than four personal searches were done on his part of the house that he and his lived in with no logical explanation being found towards why the feeling was being felt; the same result had happened with the searches that he did in his office—with nothing being found, the feeling shouldn't of been felt.

The atmosphere in his house and office had changed suddenly on the nineteenth of April; he and his family had breathed sighs then went back to resuming a normal, non-nervous life. With the Rastatter Rheinaue residing aliens and monsters now gone, and with his country's security levels being back to where they were suppose to be, he and his were able to loosen up a bit.

The extremely sensitive, and very expensive, security system that was in his house was still there and it would remain there—he saw no reason to get it removed or in getting the old system re-installed; the new one would keep him and his family extra protected.

 _Beeep!_

 _Beeeeeeeep!_

 _Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep!_

"Where's the fuckin' fire!" a motorist that he very nearly side-swiped yelled.

"Slow it down ya wankah!" a motorist, who had a thick British accent, yelled after he flashed by his vehicle.

Normally, it'd take him an hour, maybe an hour and a half, to get to the Autobahn 9 motorway. He made it to the autobahn in less than thirty minutes and, soon after that, he started down the brightly lit tunnel that stretched between Berlin and the state that he wanted to go to—which was Brandenburg. There was a toll stretched across the start of the autobahn; he abruptly dumped enough coins into the slot to permit four vehicles to it. The man who was minding the toll's station did nothing more than blink his eyes after he dumped the coins into the machine then sped off.

A small section of his brain formed a plan in how to get to Elchesheim-Illingen quicker—he'd travel on a south-westerly course; through south-west Brandenburg, then through south-east Saxony-Anhalt, then through east, south-east Thuringia, then through north-west Bavaria, then on through to Baden-Württemberg. He'd try his best to use the A9 motorway the entire way. He might have to get off the autobahn after going through certain parts of Thuringia and Bavaria, but he'd mostly use the motorway to get to the state of Baden-Württemberg. He'd have to use the A8 motorway after reaching Bavaria; that stretch of motorway would take him to the state of Baden-Württemberg. The rest of his drive to the town of Elchesheim-Illingen would take place on normal roads. Traffic and weather permitting, he was clinging to the hope that he'd knock at least two to three hours from his trip. The pedal that his foot was on was presently pressed flat against the floorboard that was on his side of the vehicle; the dial that was on the odometer, which went from 0 to 160, was currently reading at the higher number. He, honestly, wanted his vehicle to go faster.

"Commerce, between late 1999 and midway through 2499, between the towns, cities, and states that weren't connected, was tricky; not many wanted to run the risk of traveling the roads that lie beyond the shields for fear of being captured by Master Vile, or by one of the people that appear on our planet from time to time." he remembered his old professor saying to him and the rest of his classmates. "More than five Depression and Recession eras were experienced after our heroine disappeared from our planet; the last one was experienced just fifty years before she was noted as being back on our planet. The underground networks that allow our population, along with the whole population of the European and Eurasian continents, were created soon after our heroine's return to our planet. Safe, and unnervous, travel between the towns, cities, and states that weren't connected by a shield was now made possible; our heroine even created a sort of lighting system in the networks for us, so we wouldn't have to worry about having to do it ourselves, or have to worry about causing the networks to collapse. We owe a lot of thanks towards our heroine for this, and for a many other fine things that will be discussed on the next lesson."

Even though Miss. Irene did most of the work on making commerce safer for road-traveling civilians, scientists and historians had still tried to put into better logic about how the tunnels were made. The historians were the main reason behind everyone knowing the differences between the tunnels that were made in the Americas, the European and Eurasian continents, and the island nations. Even though there were tunnels in the Americas, they still led out to the major roadways that were outside of the shields; Miss. Irene had done a spell to mask the tunnel openings that were made in the shield-walls on that part of the planet. For the island nations, she did something else. The tunnels that permitted outside-shield travel were completely under the ground for them. There were no masked openings in the shields of the island nations. The same type of tunnel networking was used for Europe and Eurasia—with a slight twist, of course. The tunnels that were under European and Eurasian soil also went under water; to make for safer vehicle travel between their island brothers—Greece, Madagascar, the Philippine islands, Malaysia, etc.

Miss. Irene did all that she could think of to ensure safe travel between the un-connected shields, and she also aided in making the mostly abandoned national forests and beaches safer for folk who wanted to go out to do some hunting or take a dip in the ocean. By way of making a series of secondary—or mini—shields, and then creating a series of tunnels that connected them to the main ones, people could now enjoy the things that their ancestors were forced to abandon. Even though Miss. Irene aided them in so many things, she made it clear that she had no intention in aiding them in any of the wars that sparked up, or over any monetary issues that were encountered, or in times of stress—like when plagues struck. She'd give them aid when natural disasters occurred, but she plain refused to aid in them areas; she had put forth the claim that they were things that she had no control over, which was understanding.

A heroine could only do but so much. Miss. Irene couldn't be used as a way to end the wars that they created; she wasn't a scientist, so she couldn't help them in getting over any of the plagues that struck; and, while incredibly smart, and powerful, she couldn't help them in stopping crises that sparked over lack of funds. She also admitted to being bound by certain laws that forbade her from entering into certain situations; with this being written and known far and wide, it surprised him that there were some out there that disregarded her value. A survey, conducted by a bunch of universities about twenty or thirty years ago, had shown that ten percent of the planet's population thought that she wasn't needed anymore; it looked like Bettina Gottlieb was one of that small percentage of folk.

Ring! Ring!

He dug in his pocket for his cellular, which was ringing and buzzing almost incessantly for the last two hours, then flipped the top up. A pair of red and silver headphones were then grabbed from his vehicle's glove compartment; the adapter was shoved into its appropriate slot right when the final ring was heard.

"Yes, who is th—" he said as he returned his hand to the wheel; with his going 160 MPH, he really needed to keep both hands on it.

"About bloody time!" Ajeet's low, husky-sounding voice resounded from the headphones loudly. "What the hell's up with you today? You gave me a damn heart attack when you ran off like you did!"

"Heart-felt apologies, Mr. Ballal, but I think you'll understand after discovering what I heard after placing my third call to the Irenes' landline." Stefan replied.

"Take it that you're a distance from the Chancellery—in order to hear most of your response, I had to move near the window that's in my office." Ajeet said.

"Just got through entering the north-western tip of Bavaria state," Stefan replied. "Lower Franconia, the Rhön-Grabfeld district. I'm not sure which town, municipality, or city I'm near—I'm in the tunnel that connects the Autobahn 9 motorway to the Autobahn 8 motorway."

"Must have a racing engine in that car of yours; a trip to your current area would last three hours, yet it's only been two hours since you "flew" off." Ajeet said.

"Pedal's to the floor; odometer needle says that I'm cruising along at a hundred and sixty."

"Hate to be the woman that you married. Rosalinde will be all over your case after them tickets are received." Ajeet said.

Technically speaking, there was no speed limit on the autobahns. One could go as fast, or slow, as they wanted. His speeding through the streets of Berlin would be the cause of his many received speeding tickets and, yes, as Ajeet just said, he _would_ have a wife climbing all over his back over how many tickets he received in a few days to a week's time. At the moment, all he could care about was getting to Baden-Württemberg and then Elchesheim-Illingen.

He told Ajeet as much as he could remember—while he had a "crisp" memory, he was surprised by how fragmented his memory was of the final call that he placed to the Irene landline.

The teenage girl had spoken a few more times before the voice, belonging to none other than Lazeer, was noted as speaking in the background. Lazeer hadn't sounded very happy; he was cursing and yelling himself raw over having some sort of remote-controlled thing taken from him. He was just opening his mouth to speak again when another voice joined Lazeer's—he, like Ajeet, would remember the gravelly-sounding voice that belonged to that one alien for the rest of his life. That voice had spoken and he was quick in identifying it; fear over what was going on with the Irene's had closed in on him after that identification was made. Ajeet not being able to reach the Irene family could mean one of two things: the gravelly-voiced alien did something to prevent any calls from most everyone from reaching Miss. Irene or the gravelly-voiced alien did something to the head of the Irene family and then put a major scare in on her sons over their use of the phone.

The fact of his remembering Miss. Irene telling him, and his wife, about her having an adopted daughter named Eshal had hit home right after the identification on the voice occurred. Instead of wondering what was going on, or asking what was going on, he closed his phone then went to his car. If traffic stayed the way it was, and if his car held up to the strain that he was putting on it, he'd be getting the answers that he wanted to know in a few short hours.

"Mal! Nahin ki; kisee ko bhee, lekin vah!"

A long time ago, the German language was the most widely used language by the people of his country. Back then, if one knew or spoke English, they'd do so with a heavy accent included in the mix. About eight hundred or so years ago, that changed; schools started teaching basic English, which progressed to full English. Even though most of the German population spoke English more than their native tongue, there were still small pockets of folk who didn't know or speak English... and about half of the German population who knew and spoke English spoke with a heavy accent as well. While he was very fluent in ten of the planet's known languages, the language that Ajeet used had him stumped. He judged the tone of Ajeet's voice to tell what he meant when he said his bizarre sentence—Ajeet, along with sounding very alarm, sounded scared.

" _Why the hell didn't you tell me_! Instead of running off, you could of grabbed and then hauled my ass with you!" Ajeet nearly screamed after saying his bizarre sentence. "As it stands now, I'm _very_ tempted to get on a plane or-or-or-or helicopter or something then fly over to Elchesheim-Illingen!"

"Time was of the ess—" Stefan started to say.

 _"Bullshit!"_ Ajeet shrieked. Stefan imagined every vein standing out on the man's neck, and he also imagined the man's brown face going red in his fury; Ajeet breathed deeply, and raspily, for all of thirty seconds before speaking again. "You cut an hour from your trip, let's see you drop two to two and a half from the rest. Destroy that fuckin' car of yours if you have to; get to the Irene residence then see what's going on then, dammit, call me afterwards. If anything happens, and you need me, don't put into hesitation about putting in a call."

With the exception of his wife, who was only calling to "pass the time away", and to see if he was going to be home for supper, no one else called his number. He and Rosalinde were married for fifteen happy years; he was saddened over crushing her hopes in having him attend the family meal that night—work was heavy over the last few weeks... instead of coming home, then interacting with the family, and enjoying a meal with them when that time came around, he just crashed on the couch or on his and his wife's bed. Even though Rosalinde voiced her displeasure over his possibly being a no-show for that night's meal, she claimed that she understood the reason behind his not being able to be there.

Ajeet would probably be jumping for joy over his making it to Baden-Württemberg in a little under fifty minutes. Even though he was required to slow down, he still sped down the local roads and bridges that he came upon. Surprisingly, he'd not find a single ticket saying that he was caught speeding in this state... he owed thanks to that over the fact of there being no cameras situated on the poles that had the traffic and pedestrian lights, road signs, and street names on them. Other than slowing down for the traffic lights and road signs, he slowed down when he came upon a stretch of road that was currently being used as a crossing area by pedestrians.

The population of his country would be agog with excitement over the newspapers that were distributed in the next few days if he was seen as speeding into civilians now wouldn't it? Politician runs pell-mell into throng of crossing Baden-Württemberg civilians; President Leinart cited for both speeding and running into and then killing the little old lady that was only crossing such-and-such street in Baden-Württemberg; major vehicle pile-up, with dozens of injuries and four deaths, being pinned on speeding president... his political career, and his life in general, not to mention his conscience, would be tarnished if he harmed anyone while en-route to Elchesheim-Illingen.

When he drove into Elchesheim-Illingen twenty-five minutes later, he noted that it looked to of rained recently. The roads were wet and slick; the sky was gray and ugly; there was a chilly breeze blowing; the hint of electricity was heavy; and there were many walking around wearing raincoats, canvas hats or hoodies, and galoshes. He noticed that half of the folk who were out and about had umbrellas in-hand too.

"Didn't take long after we woke up for Rosalinde to ask if I was feeling well; soon after getting out of bed, then taking a shower and getting dressed for work, I just stood and stared at the top drawer of our dresser." he thought as he turned into the subdivision of Grün Bach. "Even I was perplexed over why I stared at that drawer; think I know why I did it now."

While most of the drawers of his and his wife's Cedar dresser contained clothes, the top one had an item in it that he kept around for protective means. His old, but still usable, Walther PPK .380 semi-automatic was housed in that drawer; he purposely kept it under lock and key to prevent the kids from getting into it and then finding an item that might arouse their curiosities and to prevent possible thieves from gaining a "free prize". Normally, that gun would roost in that drawer; he'd only take it out to clean and, maybe, test fire after deciding to go to one of the nearby shooting ranges. On the twenty-third of October, it was used as a means to help Hazaar get away from his two harassers—two aliens, one with teal-colored skin and the other with light blue skin, were pushing, shoving, yelling, and grabbing him on the night of that day. The light blue-skinned alien had also hit him with an item that he wasn't able to see. He only shot once... that bullet had gone through the lower leg of the teal-skinned alien; the other alien wasn't harmed.

If he knew what he would be doing that day, he wouldn't of wasted a second in grabbing, loading, and then sheathing that gun. His Walther PPK .380 semi-automatic would of been put to use right after he entered then assessed the situation in the Irene house; as it stood now, if that alien was found to be in the house that his friend and her five sons lived in, he'd have to use his words and hands to dispose of him.

He had spent the better part of twenty years in the military as an Air Force Pilot. He knew well how to dispose of certain people. Why, on the day that the old Berlin shield fell, he had personally seen to knocking a certain alien from an airborne helicopter; after coming to after being stiff-jabbed by the alien, he took very precious time out to strap himself into a vest then connect a cord to its back. The alien that he saw to shoving out of the vessel had plummeted to Earth while he and Hazaar were safely secured to the vessel that was flying over Berlin. He also saw to bloodying a certain ancient-looking Troll's face on the twenty-seventh of January, after the American refugees were safely admitted to the shield that was over Steinmauern; if he had to, he'd put his life in jeopardy to ensure the planet's heroine's, and her sons', safety.

"And, if it's just some other man with a gravelly-sounding voice in her house, I'll just have a good ol' laugh." he thought as he finished his drive to the house that he purchased for a certain woman and her lot of five fine sons nearly a year ago.

At first glance, everything looked fine. Miss. Irene's Porsche was in the driveway and so was her sons' BMW. Thanks to the drapes being up in the living room, he was able to see that the house looked occupied. He yanked the key from his ignition soon after parking behind Miss. Irene's Porsche then left his car; the thought of how chilly it was in the part of the country that he was in had never occurred to him during the drive—his lips came close to curling in and he came deathly close to diving back into the warmth of his car after he left it. It had to be -3.3°C—26°F—where he was and yet here he was, with nothing but a normal tuxedo jacket on his person. He ran up the concrete strip that ran along the house's front as quickly as he could; his breath drifted over his shoulder as a blue vapor the entire time he was on his way to the house. After ascending the five steps of the porch, he practically threw himself at the door. He knocked twice in rapid succession, then rang the bell once, then stood as still as he was allowed to.

Luckily for him, the door was answered five seconds later. The sigh that left him caused his body to shudder; the one who answered the door was no other than his planet's heroine, who looked just as right as rain to him.

"Mr. Leinart?" Angel Irene said. She stared at the man that was on her porch for only a second before ushering him in; torrential snowstorms were said to be near to where she and her family were at... it was very cold and yet, here was her visitor, the president of Germany, looking to have no formal winter-wears on his person. Stefan made no objections to being hustled into the house; he shivered a few dozen times before gaining control of himself after entering the relatively warm abode that he helped her and her family in getting. She let him calm down before leading him to the living room.

With the exception of having to get on Tazir for his confiscation of the keys that went to her sons' BMW a few days ago, and then having to get on him for taking Lazeer's remote-controlled Tarantula earlier that day, everything in the house was good to go. With having to do a double shift at work yesterday, and having to deal with Tazir's first wrong-doing of the month of June today, she had yet to get in on taking care of the month's bills or do the monthly shopping. That didn't mean that she was going to have her and her family's visitor hurry his visit up, though; though suspicious of his showing up without calling to put in ample warning about his visit, she was happy to see him and she bet her sons would also agree with her.

She, who was totally unaware of the reason behind her and her family's visitor's visit, led the man to the couch. The man was told to make himself at home, which he did by promptly taking a seat. She offered him something to drink, which he politely turned down, then she offered him something to eat, which he also turned down, then she sat down to speak to him.

"Been a while," she said.

"Yes, been meaning to call you for some time now." Stefan replied.

The woman, his friend, looked in very good health... and her beauty hadn't lapsed any since he last saw her. Angel Irene, the daughter of the villainous crook who was currently still causing hell to the American population, stood a tall, five foot, seven inches; her skin, which was honey-colored, was as smooth and blemish free as could be. Her eyes, which were a rather beautiful, emerald-green color, were clear; the black pupils, that had a single golden-yellow ring around them, were healthy and appropriately sized for the eyes that they were in the center of. There was no hint of wrongly gotten marks on the woman's heart-shaped face. Miss. Irene's hair, which wasn't only long but also a very vibrant, fiery red color, seemed to be abnormally bright that evening; thanks to the glow that was coming from her hair, just about everything that was around them was a bright red color.

While on the way to the living room, he took in her figure—nice and trim and petite, that was her. Any and all muscle that she had on her was masked perfectly... but he knew that was a big ruse. Angel Irene, his planet's protector, was an exceptionally strong woman. His friend's chest, which he was always finding himself as having to force himself to not look at, was still its same size and shape—the woman had to have somewhere around the 40C-cup range breasts... while they were big, they didn't throw her appearance off any. His friend was wearing a pair of green jeans, a loose-flowing, V-neck lime-green blouse, and white tennis shoes. The fairly expensive-looking ring that, since their meeting, seemed to always be adorned on the third finger of her left hand, was still on that finger. The band of this fine ring consisted of three rows of diamonds—the top row looked to have the white or vanilla variety of that stone on it while the other two looked to possess the chocolate variety on them. The oval-shaped aquamarine, that was in the band's center, had a very nice shine to it; if he had to make any guesses, this ring had a price-tag of around €500 to €750 on it. Like with the wedding band that adorned his wife's ring finger, this ring looked very at-home on the finger that it was worn on.

Maybe the busting of his ass in rushing over here was wrongly done—the woman, the head of the family that lived in this house, looked in exceptionally fine shape; the furniture that was in the room that they were in was in good shape; and the air that was in the building was clear and clean. Maybe one of the boys, who he had yet to see or hear, had a female friend over who just took it upon herself to answer the phone. Maybe he just needed to take a chill pill and mellow out... And maybe he should grab Ajeet Ballal by the neck and strangle him for the near heart attack that he experienced earlier. He couldn't help but sigh; he just heaved himself in then released the breath that he took in.

"I apologize for showing up on such short notice," Stefan said after sighing. "I called your number at around two o'clock... called it three times and got some girl with each calling. Rushed over here thinking that—"

"Mam..." he stiffened; that same, young, feminine voice that he heard earlier cut through the quiet air like a sharp axe. He had no more heard the voice before seeing a girl that he had never seen before round the corner. "Mam, can you tell Hazaar and Lazeer to drop the noise that they're listening to a few notches please?"

The girl stood just five foot, four inches. She had light blue skin and very feminine, cat-like eyes that were a pretty, green color. Like Miss. Irene, there was a single, black pupil in the center of both of them. The girl had a heart-shaped mouth, a small nose, and high cheek bones; he was quick in noting that she also had suction cups on the ends of each of her fingers. The girl's hair was long... it ran all the way down her back. Except for the bangs, which were a purple, it was an exotic, light blue color. She was wearing a dark orange maxi skirt, a brown, elastic ribbed neckline tunic top, and light brown, braided sandals—that latter, while looking nice, didn't seem appropriate for the weather that was happening outside.

He and the girl stared at one another for a decent length of time before his friend stood from her seat on the sectional. Miss. Irene went to the girl, then placed her hand on her shoulder, then started a mild introduction... which caused his heart to skip more than two beats.

"Mr. Leinart," even after trying to get her to use his given name, his friend continued to call him by his formal name... which, now that he thought of it, he did the same in accord to her. "you okay? You look to of seen a ghost."

"More like he's about to faint," the girl, who's name was Eshal, said.

"I... think she and I spoke on the phone on three occasions today." he said.

"Yep. I remember your voice." Eshal said to him. She then wagged a finger at him. "You was quite rude on your third calling, sir. Hung up without saying goodbye."

"Indeed," he laughed shakily, then stood. He presented his hand for the girl to shake, which she did, though awkwardly.

While the resemblance to Miss. Irene was small, the girl's resemblance to some of her sons was strong. He could well see this child being related to Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer; his friend had said something about having an adopted daughter named Eshal once... it did look like this was her.

Miss. Irene was just telling her "daughter" that she'd head up in a bit to tell her sons to either down their music or apply some spell that he didn't catch the name of when a new voice shattered the quiet of the house. The muscles in his body grew taut after it was heard; the expected pretty much happened twenty seconds later, after a newcomer rounded the corner. He eyed the man for only a second before emitting a growl; Miss. Irene, and her "daughter", were promptly shoved to standing behind him a second later.

"Was zum Teufel macht er hier!" he said after placing himself between the man and his planet's protector, and her "daughter".

"Elbe Frage an Sie," the alien responded in perfect German.

"Mr. Leinart—" his friend, who sounded a bit concerned behind him, said.

"Miss. Irene—" he said. The alien before him grew... well, as he saw it, frustrated, annoyed, and violent after he said his friend's name.

" _Mrs.!_ How many damn times do I have to say it to you humans? She's married, the usage of "Miss." need not be used with her!"

"As far as I see it, she's a single woman." Stefan said.

"Your way of seeing things with her are way wrong, Pal."

He knew exactly who he was. Like with the voice, he would remember the face and the body of the alien that he did "business" with on more than one occasion for the rest of his life. The alien was tall, about six foot, one; his skin was a light blue color. The alien's head was shaped like an upside-down teardrop; the eyes, that looked out from his face, were large, oval-shaped, and brightly silver. There was no nose at all on his face; instead, he sported a pair of holes where a nose would normally be. The mouth that was under them was shaped like an O. Like Miss. Irene's "daughter", the man had suction cups on the ends of each of his fingers—which looked extremely strong to him.

The man, to him, was quite overly formerly attired. His tuxedo was burgundy in color; its jacket had long tail on the back that went all the way to the floor. The vest, that he was wearing under his jacket, was a little darker burgundy color; it looked to of been made out of a satin-y material that was abnormally shiny. The vest's buttons were also quite shiny; if he was correct, they looked to of been made out of either a very convincing gold imitation or real gold. The man's shirt was crisp, clean, and white in color; the ends of the long sleeves sported belled cuffs on them. His shoes were, again, burgundy; they looked to of been made out of a sort of Patent-like leather... that was, again, abnormally shiny.

Really the only thing that was normal of the man's attire was his necktie. It was neither outrageously long, or abnormally shiny, or oddly colored. It looked like something that he, himself, would own and wear. He wasn't sure if what he was wearing over his eyes were glasses or not; Lazeer, he remembered, had and used a type of eye-ware that he called a Goggled Glass... maybe the man was wearing a pair of that same type of eye-ware as well.

"You mustn't of gotten the meaning of my words when I said for you, and everyone in the Rastatter Rheinaue nature reserve, to vacate my country immediately." Stefan said as he eyed the alien that stood before him.

"I heard your pretty words but none struck home with me." the alien responded. The alien looked over him at Miss. Irene and her "daughter"; with a simple gesture of his head, he told them to walk around him. He allowed for the girl to do as he told her, but he prevented his friend from following her. Miss. Irene, looking quite perturbed, but willing to do as he wished of her to, remained at his backside; his action in preventing his friend from going forward caused the man before him to just about explode. "If you value the skin that's on your body, you'll allow clear passage for my wife."

"If you value any form of testicle that you harbor on you, you'll collect the child that stands behind you then leave these premises at once." he said back.

Two more verbal exchanges occurred between them then a tightly woven fist flashed at him. He dodged it, then grabbed it, then tried to pull and then throw the man off balance. His attempt, quite surprisingly, was for nothing. The man retained his balance... and also managed to deliver two, clean blows to his chest and stomach areas. His friend, non-surprisingly, went to his aid right after he doubled over from them two given blows; he managed a quick recovery from the two blows given to him then grabbed her by the arm. He ripped her around him—and nearly in the nick of time too; the alien was reaching to grab her at the same time that he was.

"Take..." the alien got right up against him. Even though he couldn't see the rage that he had in his eyes, he knew that he was angrier than angry—he could feel the seething rage coming off his body. "your hands from my wife this second!"

"Remove yourself and that child of yours from this residence, and this country, and never come back, and I will." he said back.

"Angel—"

"Miss. Irene—"

 _"Mrs.!"_ the alien bellowed fiercely.

Eshal, who had only a few, short-second, small-talk exchanges with the man that was currently preventing her mother from leaving his backside, couldn't really make up her mind on whether the orange-brown haired man's actions were benevolent or malicious. He seemed to be trying to protect her mother, but he also seemed to want to fight her father... which made no sense at all. Her mother was safe; other than the usual verbal fights, her father would never place wrong finger on her. To her knowledge, the man and her father had never met before, so he shouldn't be wanting to fight him. The man had seemed rather nice when she came into the room; that seemingly nice side of him was exchanged for this strangely exhibited side. Soon after being allowed to walk around the man, her father grabbed and then threw her around to his backside. Her father was protecting her well; she felt no adverse feelings or confusion over that.

The orange-brown haired man, who was rather stoutly built, but who had a youthful face and a right pretty set of hazel-colored eyes, maneuvered himself and her mother to the left then slowly walked them around the room's archway. Her father followed, then lunged when he saw an opportunity arise in possibly grabbing and then pulling her mother from the man's company; the man, though stoutly built, was fast in both preventing her mother from being removed from his protective presence and in sending her father reeling. Her mother was moved to the hallway after her father was punched; the man ushered her to the end of the hallway quickly before standing his ground—her father, having recovered from being punched, lunged in his direction in a blind sort of rage.

Like any other good daughter, she admired her father for his strength, smarts, and resolve. She thought that it'd be all over and that her mother would be retrieved soon after her father lunged at the man. Quite surprisingly, no punches or kicks or uses of powers were done; her father just spoke to the man.

"Unless you want another experience of being used as a Pogo ball, you'll step away from my wife this instant." TazirVile, who knew exactly who he was up against, said angrily.

"Where're the boys?" Stefan asked Angel, who was currently very confused over what was going on.

"Up—" Angel started to answer.

"Their location isn't needed to be known to him; speak not of them, Angel." TazirVile snapped.

"Upstairs," Angel whispered into Stefan's shoulder. The sound of footsteps was then heard; Angel sighed after seeing that each of her sons were descending the stairs. "Or, at least they were."

"Mr. Leinart?" Bile said.

"What's going on?" Lhaklar asked.

"Almost looks like you and the old man are about to tear someone a new asshole." Hazaar said.

"Watch you language!" TazirVile snapped at the boy who just spoke. "And that shall happen if this oaf doesn't do as I've asked of him to do several times now."

TazirVile looked at his sons, then did the same thing that he did in telling Eshal, and his wife, to come around to where he was. Either the boys didn't know the gesture of 'come here' or they were ignoring him—they saw him gesture for them to come to him, so he knew that they saw his command. Their disregard to his order caused him to grow a little angrier.

"Boys, let's not make a bigger show happen. Come here," he said. If gesturing didn't work, then speaking his wish of having them vacate where they were would.

"Why?" Lazeer asked.

"Because I said for you to." TazirVile replied.

"Miss. Irene—"

 _"MRS.!"_

"Can you take your sons upstairs, or to the dining room or kitchen please? This won't take long."

"She won't be taking anyone anywh—"

He and his brothers had just started in the direction of the dining room and kitchen area of the house when the door to their abode exploded inwards. Whoever it was that kicked the door in did so with enough force to cause it to crack down the middle... and to also cause two of the hinges to become dislodged from its side and for one of its corners to completely give way. Three men, people that they knew, entered the house then practically bulldozed into their father; their mother took advantage of the window of opportunity that she was given in retrieving them, and their sister. She took them to the dining room, told them to plant it in one of the chairs and to stay out of whatever was going on, then went back into the hallway. The sounds of what they believed was a furious fight were heard for all of twenty or so seconds before complete quiet settled in the house; they stayed at the dining room table for another second or two before standing then going in separate directions.

Guyunis poked his head around the corner of the room that they were in; while Bile didn't so much as hover over him, he did stand by him—his head was also poked around the corner. Hazaar, who must of been bitten by the hunger bug, made a bee-line for the fridge. He took an apple out then started munching away. Lazeer also went towards the fridge, but he didn't do as Hazaar did in getting himself something to eat. He just grabbed one of the few remaining cans of Melon soda then started chugging away. Eshal just walked around. He went by Bile's and Guyunis's example in seeing what was going on in the hallway that came off the foyer; instead of sticking his head around the corner, he looked out from the window that looked in on the living room. What he saw contradicted what he heard earlier.

His mother, who was trying her best to keep herself and them living a halfway normal life, but who, as of the last few weeks, had found her efforts nearly thwarted by their father, was standing between Mr. Leinart, their father, and the three men who entered their house. As far as he could tell, the "fight" between his father and the three men wasn't that bad; there were no injuries on either of the four men and none of the items that the men were near were broken, destroyed, or misplaced. The carpet where the men were was a little messed up, but everything else was in good order.

"Mr. Kaiser, Mr. Klied, Mr. Abbing..." his mother said to the men who entered their house.

"Miss. Irene," the towering, six foot, three Mr. Kaiser, who had glassy green eyes and moderately curly, red-brown hair, and a mixture of both German and Italian features, said.

"Mr. President," Mr. Abbing, a big man, who stood around six feet tall, and who had a near-double girth than that of what Mr. Leinart had, and blue eyes and dark blond hair, said.

"Sir," Mr. Leinart acknowledged Mr. Abbing.

"We apologize for rushing over here, and bustin' the door in, and causing anyone to jump and think that a burglar just came in, but we thought that you was being harmed." Mr. Klied said apologetically, yet sincerely, to his mother.

"No. No harm to me's being done. Just a very confusing situation is happening that I'd really like to get some answers to."

After seeing her children to a safer location, then telling them to stay in that location, she went back to the hallway to put an end to what was going on. There was a lot of noise, but no one was really, actually, fighting. Mr. Kaiser, Mr. Klied, and Mr. Abbing had just "barreled" into her husband; by the time she returned to the hallway, the three men had managed to form a sort of "pyramid" on top of the poor man. Tazir was furious, but he wasn't able to do much of anything, thanks to being pinned down. Mr. Kaiser was pulled from her husband first, then Mr. Abbing was removed from the pile, then Tazir flexed a muscle to dispel Mr. Klied from him; as a way to prevent any further pile-ups, or further violent altercations, she placed herself between the three men and her husband. Tazir was currently enthused with gaining his composure, so he wasn't really worrying about possibly being attacked from behind by Mr. Leinart.

In a way, she was reminded of the night that Tazir suddenly showed up at Sushi Circle. While things were similar to that night, the roles were switched. Instead of Tazir showing up unexpectedly with a group of Goblins, three men had shown up. Instead of the Goblins, and Tazir, reeking havoc on the ones that were in the building, the three men had ganged up to reek some havoc on him. She retained the laugh that wanted to come out then turned to address the man who was initially fussing and fighting with her husband; a few questions needed to be asked and a few answers needed to be gained. Maybe, if both was done, the situation would even itself out and everyone would calm down.

"I apologize if I sound rude, Mr. Leinart, but may I ask why you came here today?" she asked her friend.

"You may, and you're not being rude at all." Stefan replied. "A meeting that I was apart of just came to a close; Ajeet made a lot of tracks in catching up to me after everyone left the meeting hall. He asked if I was able to call or speak with you after catching up to me; after realizing how long it's been since we last spoke to one another, I made the decision to place a call to your landline number. I was expecting to hear from either you or one of your sons, I wasn't expecting for the phone to be picked up by a female teenager, nor was I expecting to hear the voice of that man there—" he gestured at TazirVile. "—in the background. After hearing his voice, and putting two-and-two together on who it belonged to, I sped over here. I came here out of worry and concern for you and yours, Miss. Irene. Nothing but."

"How touching," TazirVile sniffed. "What the hell have you got to be concerned or worried about over here?"

"The safety of my friend and her sons of course." Stefan replied.

"Whatever obligations you've felt compelled to take on have long since been paid in full," TazirVile said. "If you feel a need, or desire, to have whatever funds you've paid out to my family returned to you, speak of them. I'll return them then see you out; don't come back or concern yourself with mine again afterwards."

"Money isn't a factor in this. I can care less about what I spent on this family; it's her and her sons' happiness, health's, and safeties that I care about." Stefan said.

"None of you are required to be here. I suggest that you hot-foot it out of here and not come back." TazirVile said.

"Tazir!" Angel chided her husband.

"A question of mine I do believe needs to be answered now, Miss.—" Stefan started to say.

 _"Mrs.!"_ TazirVile shrieked.

"—Irene," Stefan finished. "Why's he, and his daughter, here? Why didn't they go off with them other aliens and monsters when they left the nearby reserve?"

"He managed to track Hazaar here on the seventeenth of April. I couldn't just kick him, or anyone that he brought into the house, out or deny them of answers to what was going on. After explaining everything that was going on with me and my family for the last six months, most of the people in the reserve left for home. Tazir and Eshal stayed here—"

"Why don't we shorten this a bit, Angel? I'm here to play the re-integration thing with my family. On the day that I found my wife and sons in the building, an agreement was made that, for the next six months, my daughter and I would reside here before the move to the planet where most of my offspring have been born on is made." TazirVile interrupted. "And, for the record, one of them agreed upon months has gone past."

If not for Stefan, Kurt Klied, Benedikt Abbing, and Azzo Kaiser would of taken a while to figure out the intention behind TazirVile's words. Stefan, who took a keen interest in the man's tone of voice, and in the way that he was presenting himself during the final part of his "speech", was able to detect a certain something that, he was quite sure, no one in the building knew or was aware of. The alien had looked damn proud of the fact that the first month of his and his daughter's stay on the planet was over; by way of judging how the man presented himself—all proud and noble like—he was able to detect that he had something cooking upstairs in regards to how Miss. Irene and her sons lived and went by life. This caused him unease; he didn't keep his unease hidden, or his discovery to himself.

"How'd the first month go?" he asked Angel.

"Fine. Encountered one or two problems but, so far, everything's gone well." Angel said. Stefan was quick to see that she was lying; he was about to voice this when one of the three men that were behind her spoke.

"Ma'am, from what I've heard and seen these past few weeks, there seems to be a lot of issues happening in this house that revolve around the man that you've allowed to reside here." Kurt Klied said. He then started listing the items that he and the neighbors were noticing and worrying over for the last month. "The general notice of your sons' routines changing, or not happening at all; the man looking to be the only one permitted to collect and, I presume, handle and look at the mail; the reluctance on the man's part to engage in conversation with the ones around him; the fights that you and he have had, and that we've been able to hear, over the last few weeks; his hurrying you into the house after you come home from work; and his seemingly overbearing dominance and possessiveness of you are all areas that a lot of us on this portion of the street have been concerning ourselves with."

"The first few weeks to a month of any re-integration isn't easy on anyone." TazirVile said. "Nothing's been happening in this house that's abnormal... and I'm not being overly dominant or possessive with anyone either."

"While that's true, I'm also under the impression that more than one of the boys are holding back extreme feelings in regards to you." Kurt Klied said. "Just this morning, during my drive home from work, I noticed that the second oldest boy was walking up Goethestraße. With it being as cold as it was, I pulled over to see if he needed any assistance in getting to where he wanted to go; he thanked me graciously then got in my car. After saying that he was heading towards Au am Rhein, to spend some time with some of his friends, he asked if it would be too much trouble for me to drive him there; it was no problem on my end to drive and then drop him off there. While on the way to the town, I asked him a few questions about how things in his life are going. He, quite noticeably, refused to speak of how things inside this house are going. He just said that everything's going well with him.

"The last I heard, all of the boys in this house drive. I've not seen a single one of them drive the BMW that they've been seen as using; all the while I was on the way back to Elchesheim-Illingen, I was wondering if the same thing that Mrs. Wulff saw a week ago didn't happen again with another of the boys."

"What happened a week ago?" Stefan asked.

"According to Mrs. Wulff, the oldest boy exited the house then went to the BMW. He had no more gotten into the vehicle before that man exited the house then went over to him. She says that she saw the man take the keys from the vehicle's ignition out; the man went into the house after taking the keys from the car. The boy followed about ten or so seconds later. He was noted as not looking very happy." Kurt replied.

"The issue between my oldest son and husband over the car was, supposedly, taken care of on the day that he just spoke of." Angel said. She turned, then looked at TazirVile; Lhaklar was the next one that she looked at. "Why didn't you drive to see your friends, Lhaklar?"

He thought real hard on telling her what happened after she left for work; to him, it seemed that the old man was just itchin' for her to leave the house each morning. Oh, he acted all depressed when she started collecting her things, and he tried the beg routine in trying to get her to not go to work, but it also looked like he was happy in seeing her leaving the house. Once she was safely down the road, he'd start in on them; the prevention of their doing the things that they were normally allowed to do was done about ten or so minutes after she was out of the house.

His activities for the day were already spoken of that morning during breakfast. He started to go out to begin them about twenty minutes after she left to go to work. His coat was just thrown over him, and his keys were just taken from his pocket; he was whistling, and twirling them, while on the way to the door. His father beat him there. The keys to the BMW were snatched from him without a word being said on why; to add insult to injury, the old man used his Acidic powers to melt them. This was the second set of keys to be destroyed in this way; Bile's own set were melted the morning following their mother's talk with the man on their being allowed to drive.

Their father came close to being told to sleep on the couch again after their mother was told about Bile's set of keys being taken from him. He had managed to "weasel" himself out of that punishment by simply smiling, apologizing, then agreeing to drop the issue on the BMW's usage.

Sometime after his exit of the house—after seeing his keys destroyed, he hadn't had a desire to stay at home or be anywhere near his father—, his father set his sights on Hazaar. Hazaar was playing a video game on the Nividia Shield at the time; some dialogue, that included cursing, was heard. From what he was told, the man took the game console right out from Hazaar's hands; the console was currently hiding somewhere in the basement... in more than three pieces. After being confronted by Bile about his wrongly taking the device over a few spoken sentences of game dialogue, the man took and then smashed it against his knee.

The event with Lazeer's remote-controlled Tarantula occurred two hours after he returned home. Lazeer took the Tarantula, which he got on his birthday, out from his closet with the sole intent of putting a little, playful scare on Sabine and Eshal. Eshal had laughed after noticing the thing as a toy while their father didn't see the joke-like nature behind the given scares. The Tarantula, and its remote, were taken soon after Eshal's second gasp-scream was emitted; the man said something about "this unnecessary scaring, and abuse of remote-controllable items, needing to stop" before going outside. Lazeer was, naturally, upset over his Tarantula being taken from him; he was voicing it all day—it was through this that their mother found out about it's confiscation. Their mother knew nothing about his keys being taken, or about the Nvidia Shield being destroyed... or, for the record, about what his father did yesterday.

Some of his friends—Astor and his sister, Abelle, and Jarvis—had come over; with it being a little too chilly to spend any length of time outside, it was decided that they'd come over to spend some time at his place. He started "tough-talking" Astor and Jarvis about fifteen minutes after their, and Abelle's, arrival; his father came in, then put an end to their fooling around, then expressed a wish for them to leave. His friends left to go home about fifteen minutes later; though apologetic, he was also mad over his father just walking in then saying for his friends to leave. The covered up bruise that was on his left cheek had come from his coming right out about how disrespectful the man was on that day—his father had just swung at him... he hadn't expected for that to happen at all.

First the re-broken arm, now the bruised cheek, what next?

"No offense, mom, but I'd rather not talk right now." Lhaklar said, making his decision on what to do. While he felt a desire to spill certain things, he also felt a desire to keep his mouth shut—a lot could happen and, of course, there were too many un-related people around to hear what all he wanted to say. As the saying went, issues within one's family were best to be remained in that family.

"You've got freedom of speech, son." Angel said. "You don't have to be afraid to speak; that goes double for telling me the things that you see that are happening, or that have happened, in this house."

"Pardon if I offend, but the manner displayed by your son is quite damning about the events that have happened in this house." Stefan said. "All of your sons are a quite confident bunch, Miss. Irene. Lhaklar's display of not wanting to tell you the things that have happened here speaks volumes."

"It ist zee man zat he ist nuhfous ov." Azzo Kaiser said. "He dost not vant to talk becahz ov him."

"Lhaklar, just because your father's in this hallway doesn't mean that you have to be so tight-lipped with me. Talk to me, son. Tell me why you didn't use the car today." Angel, who was quite alarmed over her son's refusal to speak to her, said.

In the end, it was the concerned, alarmed look that his mother had on her face that forced him to talk. He looked at his father, who looked about ready to explode, then he looked at the four men that were in the hallway, then he looked at his mother, before taking a deep breath in.

"I wasn't able to use the car because the set of keys that I have were destroyed this morning." Lhaklar said.

"Destroyed?" Angel's eyes went wide with shock. "By wh—"

"Him," Lhaklar said. He pointed at his father. "I was on my way out about twenty minutes after you left for work. Dad beat me to the door; he took my keys without saying a thing. He used his Acidic powers to melt them. W—"

"And with that having just been done, you made the decision to walk to Au am Rhein? Why didn't you ask one of your brothers for their keys and why, for the wonder, didn't you call me?" Angel asked.

"Crossed my mind once or twice; in the end, I just didn't want to bog you down or cause you to get angry while at work." Lhaklar admitted.

"Why didn't you ask one of your brothers for their set of keys?" Angel repeated the question that had yet to be answered. Her son responded by leaving the window that was between the dining room and living room; she was on her way to the dining room when he suddenly appeared around the corner. "Lhaklar—"

"Because I didn't want Guyunis's, Hazaar's, or Lazeer's keys to be destroyed too." Lhaklar said. "Bile doesn't have his set of car keys anymore. His keys were destroyed in the same manner that mine were."

"What!" Angel nearly screamed. She looked at TazirVile, then she looked at her son, who was just standing idly by the corner of the dining room doorway. "When? When were Bile's keys destroyed, Lhaklar?"

"The twenty-seventh." Bile answered.

"What!" Angel turned to look at her husband. Anger, as rich and pure as can be, was clearly worn all over her face. "I thought we had a talk on this issue! I thought you—"

"You can talk me until I'm blue in the face over their use of a car, Angel, but I won't budge a step from my views on their driving at their age. It is illegal and they are too young and inexperienced for driving." TazirVile said.

The two spoken items that she didn't know about hit a serious cord with her. She fought, literally struggled, to retain some sort of control over herself and her emotions and she also fought the urge to clobber Tazir. Had she not told him that she was the one responsible for the boys having driver's licenses? Had she not told him that she was the one behind their knowing how to drive? Had she not told him that she was the one responsible for their having a car to call their own? A fifteen minute discussion on this happened during supper on the twenty-sixth of May; not only did Tazir give Bile his keys back but he also apologized and promised to back down on the boys' use of their car. To hear that Tazir didn't only take but also destroyed two sets of car keys—one that was only just returned to its owner—was a shock.

"From what she's told me, her sons are all in their mid-teenage years. She's also told me that they're good drivers; their driving records even validate that claim." Stefan said to TazirVile. "There's nothing wrong in a mid-teenage child driving; even I, at that age, had a license and was allowed to drive a car."

"What're you, a fuddy duddy or something?" Benedikt asked TazirVile.

"I am not a "fuddy duddy". I go by the set of laws that have been set in stone in the more advanced Galaxies of this Universe. If the laws here permit young-age driving, then fine... but my sons will not be permitted to become involved in them." TazirVile said.

"Ever hear of judge not by word but by sight? Have you ever seen one of the boys drive; they look to be excellent examples of teenage drivers." Benedikt asked.

"Being that I'm the reason behind their being so well behaved behind the wheel, I take pride in your words, Mr. Abbing." Angel said, she then looked at Bile and Lhaklar. "I'll see to you two getting a new set of keys to the BMW soon."

Hazaar, who was standing in the shadows, listening to just about everything that was being said, but trying to keep himself from getting involved in it, decided to let it out about the Nvidia Shield being taken from him. He rounded the corner, told his mother what happened after Lhaklar left the house to spend some time with his friends, then went back to the dining room; Bile took over in telling the rest of what happened with the device that was taken from him. Call of Duty; Black Ops II, Zombies was one of his favorite games to play on that one particular console and he was just so playing it when the Nvidia was taken from him. Hearing about the game console's demise both infuriated and saddened him; if not for his fear over his father ripping his belt off then using it on him, he would of confronted him over the machine's destruction soon after learning about it.

Angel did the only thing that she could of after learning about one of the game consoles being destroyed; she turned, then gave Tazir a hard, shocked look. Was this not another area that they spoke about a few weeks ago? Had she not spilled her guts on what games her sons could and could not play and had she also not told him that she already had a talk with their sons on how they weren't to get any ideas in their heads about going around, using the words that they hear on the games that they play on their gaming consoles? She was about to speak this when one of the men behind her spoke.

"Zee item zat he spehk ov ist handheld right?" Azzo Kaiser asked.

"Yes, a handheld game system." Angel replied. "It's like a laptop, only its shaped like a game controller and is for game uses only."

"I zink I knov vhat he ist talking about." Azzo said. "I wecawl playing vith a device ov zat desquiption vhen I vas a tenahgur."

"Before anyone asks, let me explain the reason behind my taking that device. "TazirVile said, more to his wife than to the men that were in the hallway with them. "Hazaar seems to have an unnaturally high interest in games that utilize cursing in their narration. Just about every game that I've seen him play these past few weeks has more than fifty lines of cursing in it."

"So," Azzo said. "I played games vith cuhzing in zem as vell as a tenahgur."

"Same here," Kurt said.

"I apologize if I offend or insult anyone here, but I happen to have a special bunch of boys that, one day, are to be destined with the inheritance of whatever galaxies I've conquered—they're my heirs, Gentlemen. I can't really go by my wife's claim of her speaking to the boys on their not using the words that are used in the games that they're allowed to play when their futures are so bright and when the worth that's on their shoulders is so grand."

A chorus of laughs erupted at once; TazirVile looked at the faces of the men around him, then at his wife, who was also laughing, before looking at the ceiling then leaning up against the wall. What he said was true; he had heirs and he wanted them to be presentable. He didn't want a band of embarrassing ruffians inheriting his kingdoms after something happened to cause his already long existence to come to a close.

"Mr., you need to do some serious downgrading on your take on life." Stefan said after gaining control of himself. "Even I, as a teenager, played video games that included cursing in their dialogues; I turned out alright. Not only have I been in the military but I've been a politician for the last fifteen years. I don't go around, throwing out the curses with every step that I take."

"And yet you have an uncanny ability of throwing people from flying vessels." TazirVile said nonchalantly. "Bet you learned that from one of them trash-games that you played as a "teenager"."

"From my career as an Air Force pilot and, for the record, I "threw" you from the helicopter to get you away from Hazaar." Stefan said in his own defense. "With what was going on at the time, I saw no other option then—"

"Yawn. No offense, but I do think you four folk have taken some twenty minutes of my, and my family's, time." TazirVile said rudely.

Stefan turned the conversation back to what it was before the issue with the car keys, and game system, being destroy was brought up. He asked if Angel was serious in the agreement that was made over the six month stay of the alien man and his daughter then he asked for her honest opinion on the situation that was going on in her home since the alien man's, and his daughter's, intrusion—a word that he only used to get a mild reaction, which wasn't really mild at all, from the alien that stood between he and his friend. When his friend beat around the bush on giving her opinion of the situation, he decided to ask a question that suddenly popped into his head.

"What happens when you come home? Do you go upstairs, change out from the clothes that you're required to wear to work, then drop your purse or bag in an area in your bedroom that you and only you go near or know then come downstairs or—"

"I go into the kitchen. I have a snack, have a talk or two with my family, then go upstairs to do all of that." Angel replied.

"Ahem," Bile cleared his throat.

"You mean you use to do that." Lhaklar said.

"As of the last few weeks, she's been throwing her purse at dad." Bile said.

"Once she comes home, she throws her purse at him then goes to do that." Lhaklar said.

"And why do you do that?" Stefan asked.

"No reason. A lot of women throw their purses at their spouses." Angel said quickly.

"Uh, mine ser don't do zat." Azzo said. "Sche come in, places her puhse on zee conter, zen goes upstirs to schange."

"I think I found the reason behind Mr. Ballal not being able to reach you and I also think I don't need to ask how much trust you or he have in one another." Stefan said. TazirVile's head snapped in his direction at once.

"You watch your mouth! I love, respect, and give ample amounts of trust to my wife and she gives the same to me!"

"Where's your cellular, Miss. Irene?" Stefan asked. When Angel didn't respond, he walked up to her then grabbed her—lightly, not roughly—by the arm. One look told him that she was about to cave to both stress and to whatever she was holding within her. "I only ask because—"

"In the kitchen!" Angel nearly screamed.

There was the sound of someone running away from them, then, not one second later, there was the sound of someone running towards them. Angel, a near beaten woman, who dealt with so much over the last nine months, merely looked away after her thirdborn son gave her cellular to Stefan. Stefan, after receiving the phone, stepped away from his friend. TazirVile took the chance to approach and then stand next to Angel; he placed his arms around her then glared at the backside of the man who, he truly believed, was only out to cause trouble. Angel had just given him a gentle elbowing back when her friend turned to look at her; the look, that she saw on his face, said it all for her.

He had found something on her phone that was incriminating.

"Ajeet's number is shown to be blocked on the twenty-sixth of May." Stefan said.

"What!" Angel screamed. Stefan gave her her phone, then looked at TazirVile, who had since taken a "baby step" back from his wife. "I didn't... how... I didn't know or do th—"

She looked at the screen of her phone again and again and again; seeing the number, yet not wanting to believe that it was on the page that it was on, and not wanting to believe what she just found out, but also having to do so. In a lot of ways, it was the discovery of Mr. Ballal's number being blocked that broke the final strand that she was trying to keep around herself. She bit the tears back after realizing that her husband was just caught lying when he said that he gave her "ample amounts of love, respect, and trust"; after moving the number that was on the block page to its appropriate slot in her directory, she turned to address the man that was just caught in a lie. The first thing that she wanted to know was pretty basic: why was the number, that belonged to her friend, Mr. Ajeet Mahatma Ballal, found on the blocked page of her phone.

"Quite simple, My Love. I want you to have no contact with the one who's associated with that number. He's dangerous, Angel. I don't want you, or any of the boys, or Eshal, for that matter, anywhere near or have anything to do with him." her husband responded to her question.

"How do you know he's a danger? You don't know him! You've—"

"To the contrary, I know a great deal about him." TazirVile said. "Not only have I had certain contacts with him but I've also had him on surveillance for quite a w—"

"Surveillance?" Stefan asked. It took just two seconds for him to finally figure out the reason behind the Ballal's swift exit of the home that they were previously living in; he was automatically infuriated by this piece of information.

"Yes, I gave the order for his house, his vehicle, and his cushy office in the building that he works in to be bugged. I was serious in wanting information on my family and I was willing to do just about anything to acquire it." TazirVile replied, he then locked his eyes on his wife's. "A man, Angel, who runs around, firing weapons at members of my family who are only trying to retrieve a child of mine who's running amok in a city, with no parental figure around to supervise him, is, in my book, a highly dangerous one. That is one of the reasons behind my wanting you and the boys far from him, the other is the fact that he exposed a part of your body at that dance that I and some of my staff found you at."

"That was an accident, Tazir! He didn't mean for that to happen!" Angel nearly shrieked.

"And with his playing grab on the part of the body that he exposed? I was there, Angel. I saw his hand—"

"Hovering! He was trying to cover the part that popped out, Tazir! He wasn't trying to grab or "play" with me—he was only trying to help me during a wardrobe malfunction!"

"These humans have you brainwashed and quite badly, Angel." TazirVile said. He then turned to look at Stefan. "You, my good man, have created a lot of trouble on this day. I hope you're happy with yourself and I also hope that, when you exit this place, the door doesn't slam you on the ass on the way out. My wife and I have a lot to talk about, and there's a lot of packing to be done now that the decision over our staying for five more months has been dropped, so, please, exit yourself from this place."

"We're not leaving—" Angel started to say.

"They're not leaving—" Stefan started to say.

"You are!" TazirVile came close to shouting. "Someone, Angel, has to make a decision on what's to happen with this family and, sadly, with your emotional state and state of mind being the way they are, it can't be you."

Her hands flashed out at the man who was half responsible for four of the six children that were in the building. The lapels of her husband's tuxedo were clutched; she practically threw him to the wall after having him in her grip.

Her true feelings over the situation, the ones that half of her didn't want to expose for fear of causing her husband pain, were expelled right after she had him subdued. They just spilled out of her and she, in a lot of ways, had absolutely no control over them.

"My mind state and emotional stress is caused by one and only one being in this building," she said. "I wouldn't be as stressed out, and this wouldn't be happening, if not for you. After the six-month thing was agreed upon, I said for my sons to go by their way of life. To just continue as they were, as if nothing had happened... as if nothing different was going on. I've been trying to keep going as a mother and primary money-maker for weeks now and you've done just about all that you can think of to prevent me from doing that!"

"I have not!" TazirVile gasped. He pried his wife's fingers from his jacket then lightly pushed her back from him.

"Yes you have!" Angel exclaimed. "I come home to find that one or more of my sons has been wrongly treated by you! I come home to find that you've upset or injured one of my sons! I come home to find that you've taken things that they use to play with, or that they've displayed in their rooms! Lhaklar's arm was re-broken because of you!"

"What?" Kurt gasped.

"Say again?" Benedikt blinked his eyes.

"I am no suhpwized," Azzo Kaiser said.

"Angel, you best calm yourself down before you say something that really puts me in a frenzy." TazirVile, who was starting to feel a bit stirred, warned his wife.

"And, when I come home from work, you jump on me! You jump and get all over my case for bringing things home from the nearby convenience store or from my job for my family... My giving you my purse after coming home from work wasn't a free-card for you to go on a blocking spree on the numbers that call my phone! I threw it to you as a way to show you that you can trust me! I don't do nothing behind your back when I'm at work or when I'm buying on the splurge!"

Tears, hot and salty, started coursing down her cheeks. TazirVile, her husband of two thousand, one hundred, and two years, tried to use them to his advantage in gaining control of her; she prevented him from doing so by shoving him from her. She walked away from him. Her body was wracked in shivers; her hair seemed to of taken on an even more brighter quality that Stefan, Kurt, Benedikt, and Azzo took note of. When Angel went into the kitchen, Stefan and the other men followed her; a visibly shaken TazirVile stayed behind for only a second before following them.

"This whole "re-integration" thing is a disaster. The only one that's made any progress in integrating with my family is Eshal. I've not come home to find her as causing harm to the boys; she's been respectful to them while he hasn't. "Angel said, more to herself than to anyone else who was in the room with her. Stefan took her by the arm then escorted her to one of the chairs that were around the dining room table; he had her sit down before doing the same. Benedikt Abbing took care of taking her children upstairs—or, at least some of them. Bile and Lhaklar plain refused to leave the room that she was in; she shouted at Tazir when he tried to prevent the man from taking the rest of her young upstairs. Bile and Lhaklar said nothing after their siblings were removed from the room. They just stood and watched the proceedings of the adults quietly.

"Your intention in re-integrating your family with his was done in the right while his wasn't," Stefan said. "I only need to take one look at him to know that he wants the remaining five months of his stay to go by fast; he wants to get you and yours from this planet then he wants to do a brutal re-hashing on how everyone lives their life."

"Most of my reason in wanting to stay here was because of Guyunis—I didn't want him to get sick, or be treated badly by anyone on Moas. Instead of just playing planet hop, then growing stressed over seeing one of my children being persecuted by Tazir's Goblins, I wanted a sort of relationship to forge between Tazir, Eshal, and Guyunis before the move was made." Angel dropped her head, so that it was neatly nestled on the backs of her hands. "I knew some issues would happen with Tazir and my biological sons but I wasn't expecting for this to happen. I wasn't expecting for him to become his father, or to persecute them over how they go by their lives."

"How long have you and he been married?" Kurt asked. "A month?"

"Two thousand, one hundred, and two years." Angel replied.

"A long time... Maybe it's time that you make the right decision in letting him go." Stefan, who gave his head a brief shake over hearing how long his friend was married to the alien, said.

"Just because he's the fader of your sons doesn't mean that you have to have him in your life, or in theirs." Benedikt Abbing said.

"She is bound to me by the Gods' wills; divorce of our type of marriage can't be done." TazirVile, who was now standing over Angel's shoulder, said. "And I wouldn't let her leave me. I love this woman to pieces; I've spent over a thousand years in trying to find her and the boys... I've done plenty of worrying and weeping over their possible, forever loss. To lose her would be like me losing myself."

"How morbid a marriage when it's between two folk who don't trust one another." Stefan said.

"I trust her..." TazirVile said.

"From what I just heard, obviously not enough." Stefan said.

"I've seen you go through my purse from time to time and, honestly, didn't think anything of it. I didn't think that you'd go as far as to take my phone out then block certain numbers. I also didn't think that you'd go so far as to hurt one of our children over something that's silly." Angel said to her husband. She then turned to look at TazirVile. "What happened to you, Tazir? Before I left with the boys, you was fine. Nothing like this. Over the last few weeks, I've been wondering where the man who I use to know and love went."

"The man that you know and love is still here. I did do a small change in how I parent, yes. Having teenage boys does require some parenting changes." TazirVile said.

"No it doesn't!" Angel exclaimed.

"Bullshit!" Kurt exclaimed, then stood from the chair that he was in. "I've got two teenage daughters. I've not changed a bit over how I am with them after they reached thirteen."

"Daughters are different than sons." TazirVile said.

"No they're not." Benedikt Abbing said.

"Someone needs to put this man through parenting classes and fast. It doesn't matter what gender the child is; you never change how you are with one of your children." Kurt said.

"I have a son and you can bet that I won't be changing a single way of how I am with him when he reaches his teenage years." Stefan said.

The four men stared hotly at TazirVile for only a second before turning their gaze to Angel, who had since returned her head to the backs of her hands. Stefan placed his hand on his friend's shoulder then drew in just a bit; while keeping an eye on the alien that was still standing at his friend's shoulder, he asked her a few questions.

"Was what he said about you not being able to divorce him correct?"

"Yes," a meek nod of the head was given.

"Do you have a wish to stay with him?"

"Yes," it was barely noticeable, but he saw his friend's head nod.

"You staying here, on Earth, for the next five months, or are you planning on leaving soon after I head for home?" he asked.

"Staying here. The agreement was six months. That's not over yet." Angel replied after lifting her head from her hands. "Personally, after today, I've got a good mind to tack on an extra month."

"What!" TazirVile grabbed his wife by her shoulders then whipped her around to looking at him. "We agreed to it being six months, Angel. Not seven, eight, nine, or ten! Six months, no more than that. I want you and the boys back on Moas, where you should all be in the first place!"

"Let her go!" Stefan wrestled Angel free, then stood between her and her husband. After having the two separated, he addressed his friend again. "I can see where another month being tacked on would come in handy; while a lot of the issues that need tending are on his end, you and your sons would also require some time to learn how to trust and peacefully co-exist with him. And his daughter."

"But, you haf really gone by zis vrong." Azzo, who very nearly leaped from his chair after his neighbor was grabbed, said. "Instead ov hafing him here, haf him in a hotel. Vhen you feel zat he has schanged in how he treats you and your sons, and vhen you feel zat you can trust him, let him back in. You make zee decizions on hov zings go vith him."

"Yes! Do it that way. With your and his issues in trust having been disclosed, it's really unwise for him to be living under the same roof as you and your sons." Stefan said. He thought that Azzo's suggestion was a grand one; instead of having a family that doesn't trust one another living under the same roof, have the family live separately until either trust is achieved or it's decided that they're better off separated.

"I'm willing to do that." Angel said after giving Azzo Kaiser's suggestion a few minute think-over.

"What!" TazirVile, who was very against the notion of his staying anywhere other than the residence that his family was in, exclaimed.

"Have him here only when you're here. Think of it as a supervised visitation—" Stefan started to say.

"I will not be staying anywhere but here." TazirVile declared. He tried to grab his wife, and was found to be prevented from doing so. "Angel, this is ridiculous! How're we to become a family if I'm to be living under some other roof? I'll allow myself to resume sleeping on the couch, I'll even allow for myself to be moved down to the basement for a little while, but I will not allow myself to be moved to a building that's a distance from you and the boys. You, the boys, and Eshal are my life—to be any distance from you seven is like instant death to me!"

"Having you in this house when she's not around is like ringing the dinner bell for a shark." Kurt said. TazirVile glared at him; he ignored the glare. "Having you live in a hotel for a while would be better for Miss. Irene's, her sons', and your daughter's healths. All of this fighting and stress isn't good for them."

"Angel—"

Miss. Irene moved off; the alien man seized the moment that he was waiting for in not only getting her away from them but in also trying to "talk" some sense into her. He and the other men, all three of whom he regarded highly, despite not knowing a thing about them, watched as the two spoke in the kitchen. The alien did just about all that he could think of to change Miss. Irene's decision in having him removed from the building; he dropped to his knees on one occasion, then got super mad on another, then started acting like he was about to keel over on another. Miss. Irene, at first, was steadfast on the plan of having her "husband" live in a hotel for a little while then, after around five or so minutes of show-acting, and emotion-showing, she, quite surprisingly, relented to his suggestion of having him move down to the room that came off the basement for a few days before allowing him "limited" access of the rest of the house.

After that agreement was made, the conversation between the two got very heated very fast... and none of them really knew the reason why. With the woman having agreed to the man's own suggestion, they figured that he'd be happy—relieved over having things his way instead of theirs. Instead, he just got real blisteringly mad; before any of them knew it, the alien stormed out of the kitchen, and then dining room. He went to the living room, then plopped down on the couch.

"Uh, I know that it may be a bit late in asking but... can I get anything for any of you? It's been quite an active evening, after all." Angel Irene, who was shaking her head, asked them.

"Vhat's up vith him?" Azzo asked. He gestured towards the living room, where TazirVile was still at.

"Being a baby, that's about all there is to it." Angel replied.


	11. Part 2

"Hello and good morning from 104.6 RTL, the station that brings you all the juicy political bits and gossip that happen in and around Berlin city. It looks like the one who's tuning, turning, and pressing the weather gauges and buttons has decided to allow for things to even out—for the last three days, it's been good and sunny and in the upper teens. Today's forecast calls for the dials on the thermometers to touch twenty-one degrees Celsius. No rain is said to be on the horizon for today, so leave them coats in your closets and go out and enjoy this fine weh—"

The ninth of June... hard to believe that it decided to show its face. For the past week, the seconds, minutes, and hours had all ticked away at the slowest of speed; it seemed that he spent forever at work, and that it took forever before it was time to bid everyone in his family a good night.

He rolled over after the alarm on his and his wife's clock—er, more his than his wife's, since Gretel got up before him and didn't really need a clock to wake her—went off. The piece of machinery, that was on the bedside table, was displaying the time and date; there was also a little icon on its side that displayed the weather. When he pressed the button to silence the alarm, he was treated to feeling a small jolt of electricity course up his arm—the clock had a built-in feature in it that allowed this to happen. It was only there to further aid ones who were either slow in waking or stubborn. Sometimes, after he got up from a sound sleep, he had an issue in getting with it in both getting out of bed and starting his day; the clock's electric jolt was a fine way to get his lazy buns in gear.

The floral designed, brown and green comforter and sheets were thrown from his body after the jolt was felt. After emitting a yawn, then giving a small stretch, he swung himself from bed; the Brazilian Chestnut floor, that his feet touched, furthered the process of his waking up—the man on the radio said that it was going to get to twenty-one degrees Celsius that day... the floor sure did seem to contradict this. It was cold!

"Shiver, shudder, now get with it on what you need to do." Ajeet Mahatma Ballal said to himself after feeling the first shiver course through his body.

He was a man who preferred to be on schedule for his job, so he did his routine in the bathroom quickly before donning his usual attire then heading down for breakfast. As usual, he found himself as having to stop and then scoop up two or three toys that somehow "found" themselves on the hallway. Haimi was a good boy, but he did have a fine way of leaving his toys lying out and about from time to time. Normally, Chayla would keep her toys in her bedroom, or the living room; she seemed to be a little more organized than her bruder, which was surprising, seeing as she was younger than he. Chayla's premature organizational skills must of been a no-show that morning, because he picked two of her dolls up from the floor. Haimi's machine gun-style Nerf Blaster was also discovered as being on the floor. He placed the toys in the rooms that their owners resided in during the late afternoon and evening hours then went to the kitchen.

"With the exception of its roof, the color of the carpets, the hardwood flooring, and the front yard being a little bigger, the house that we're living in looks like that of our old one." he thought before entering the room that was adjacent the one that he was headed towards.

For the most part, he was looking for a house that resembled the one that he and his were formerly living in. Finding this one was a blessing; none of the other houses that he looked at had caught his fancy. This one had a good air around itself; it hit well with him. Unlike the other house, which was very nearly paid off in full, this one would require around fifteen or so years before being paid off; he was clinging to the hope that it would be the final one for him and his family—he really had no want or desire in finding another or in going through the hell that he experienced in getting everything set-up again.

"Guten Morgen," he said after entering the dining room, where he found his and his wife's two children fussing and fighting among themselves. He quickly separated the children then went to the kitchen, where his wife was. Gretel, looking as pretty as ever, was working one-armed at the stove; it looked like she was having an issue in flipping the flapjack that she was cooking. He went to her aid quickly. "Let me help you with that."

"Thank you," his wife said in return. His wife's hair, which was a light ash-blonde color, was a mess; with her arm being in its present state, and her not being able to tend to matters as well as she use to, she wasn't able to make herself look as presentable as she wanted to. After helping her with the flapjack, he went to one of the house's bathrooms for a comb and brush. "Careful, Ajeet."

"Always, and don't you worry on any hair getting in the food." he said after returning then starting to fix her hair.

"That's what I meant when I said for you to be careful." Gretel chuckled.

Much to his wife's parents' chagrin, he and Gretel were still very much in love with one another. Like with his other marriage, he came across her one rainy day in late-September. She was on her way out of a small grocery store; along with being leaden with bags, and looking very unhappy, she looked to need some help. The man that she was formerly married to was sitting, all cozy-like, in the piece of junk car that they owned—instead of standing around, watching her struggle along with them bags, he went to see if he could help her.

While they liked one another from the start, it took four more "chance" encounters before they noticed that their feelings weren't of the normal, friend-based sort. Gretel came out about her marriage about four months after their friendship started; her husband was a dead-beat, overly dominant, abusive cuss—he didn't have a job, or any type of cash-flow coming in to support them, and, most of the time that he was home, he was sleeping. Gretel had also let it "slip" about the man's alcohol problem—he drinks like a sailor, he remembered her saying. He'd stay out all night, getting drunker than drunk, then come home to abuse her... and sleep until the night hours returned. The money that he got for his liquor had always come from her, who he'd verbally and physically abuse in order to get it.

It took around a year before he finally got the nerve to ask her if she'd leave her dead-beat of a husband. He didn't beat around the bush while asking her if she'd leave Bodo for him and she, honestly, wasn't slow in saying yes. While acquiring her, and her affections, was easy, acquiring the good feelings of her parents wasn't. Dieter and Bertita Althaus took one look at him then asked one, simple question: how old are you?

While his lovely Gretel was forty-one years of age, he was fifty-eight. There was a seventeen year gap between them that her parents had noticed. The two had done just about all that they could to prevent them from seeing one another and, after the proposing was done, from getting married. While the two also seemed to be a bit prejudiced of him being Indian, it was the age thing that they mostly didn't like. To him and Gretel, age wasn't a factor. It was the love that they had for one another that they put the most emphasis on.

His pretty wife was currently on husband number three. According to her, he was to be her last; she had no intention of divorcing him or finding another man. She claimed to be quite taken with him; he was mutual on this. In comparison to his wife, he was on wife number two—prior to Gretel, he was married for fifteen hellaciously long years to a lady named Käte Rothbart. His first wife, someone that he went to school with, hadn't much liked the idea of his having a career in the military; she was a clingy sort of gal with a distinct dislike for how the military kept the menfolk out of the house for months at a time. Käte also had a distinct dislike towards his ambitions in life. She did all she could to ruin his career and stomp his ambitions. After fifteen years, he finally had enough; the divorce was bitter, but he was happy to see her go. The only good thing out of that relationship? Nisa Teresa Ballal and Johan Karl Ballal, his and Käte's two children.

A six-year relationship happened between he and a gal by the name of Lotte Bodenschatz about two years after he and Käte divorced. Unlike Käte, Lotte was fine with his being in the military; his high ambitions in life had made a few rocky areas in that relationship but she was okay with them. The issue with that relationship? Lotte taking advantage of him during his time on duty—one day, when he came home after getting off on leave, he found her getting dressed. She and her "lover" had just ended their ordeal. No attempt was made on either of them to save that relationship; once the affair was noticed, all love and trust evaporated. Along with leaving him, Lotte took their daughter, Sascha, with her.

Regardless of the issues in his prior marriage and relationship history, he and all of his grown children were still talking and regarding one another well. Nisa and her family lived nearby, and so did Johan. Due to his son's sexual orientation, he had no children. Sascha lived in Brandenburg; while she was single, she was hoping to find someone to marry and have a family with.

"Don't hesitate to ask for my help," he said as he moved away from his wife.

"Don't you worry any on that," his wife suddenly turned to face him. Her beautiful, bright green eyes had a devilish twinkle in them that he noticed right away. A kiss to the cheek was given, then he went to where his two children were.

"Haimi Günther Ballal, you must be trying to be me this morning." he said after noticing that his eleven year old son had one of them Electronic KA Combat Rifles in his hands. Haimi, which, in Indian, meant Golden, had gotten around four or five play guns as birthday presents; he seemed to be... well, "golden" with all of them.

"Stick 'em up!" Haimi exclaimed, then pointed the toy at him. He, at once, held his arms up.

"Whoa there, Mr. Army Junior Man, don't fire at datty." he said back.

His son, who looked like a perfect mini version of him, smiled evilly. As he so knew it would happen, the trigger of his son's toy was pressed. The sound of the gun being fired was heard; he started acting like he was shot in the chest and stomach before "advancing" towards the table. Haimi, who was wearing green sweat pants and a simple, white t-shirt, started acting like he was protecting the table that he was heading towards; his son ducked below its edge, then fired at him from under it, then ran around to "shoot" at him at point-blank range. He dodged the first round of firing, then went forward after the second round started. A slight mess-up of Haimi's dark brown hair was done before he sat down.

"Thanks dat! Now my hair's messed up!" Haimi moped.

"Really? Doesn't look any different than what it was before my hand found its way to your head." he returned.

"I'm telling mum!" Haimi said. He then rushed off to do as he said he would.

"Mornin', datty!" Chayla, his eight year old daughter, said.

"No need to step outside when you're around, my dear. That face and smile of yours brightens every room you go into."

"Yours too." Chayla said.

"Oh now, let's not be so sure of that. I probably make a lot people cringe after entering a room. Probably make a lot of people scream after I smile as well, come to think of it."

"What's k-k-kwiiinge, datty?" Chayla, who looked like a perfect blend of both he and Gretel, asked.

"This," he made a face, which caused Chayla, who's given name meant Fairy in Indian, to laugh.

"Funny, datty!" Chayla said. She then held his cellular up. "This rang two times, datty. Think someone wants to talk to you."

While keeping an ear and eye open on his wife, he opened the phone then started the process of seeing who it was that dared to call his number at this time in the morning. While he was a nice man, and one who preferred for friends and family to remain in contact with him over just calling when something's up or when he's needed/wanted, he did like for his mornings to be strictly his and his family's only. He sighed the second he saw the two numbers; Johan had called about five minutes ago, while his secretary called about twenty minutes earlier. While his secretary was important, he saw his son as being more important than her; he called Johan's number, got the busy tone, then hung up. A text followed, which went through with flying colors. Johan, at around the time that Gretel was placing a plate of flapjacks and eggs before him and Chayla, responded to his text; the boy was only calling to see how he was and to see if he could possibly help him in fixing the water heater that was in his apartment in the next few days. His response was short, sweet, and to the point: he was fine, just sitting down to breakfast with Gretel, Haimi, and Chayla, and, yes, if he was available in the next few days, he'd be honored to help him in fixing his issue.

Instead of calling to see what his secretary wanted, he ate his breakfast. Gretel's cooking was far better than Käte's and a THOUSAND times better than Lotte's; no need to hide a face, or try to get out of eating one of her meals. He could, and would, eat anything that his wife put down before him. The flapjacks went down well, as did the eggs, then a half dozen swallows of Indian filter coffee—the only coffee that he'd allow himself to drink—followed them. He did his usual after consuming his meal—sit back, belch, compliment his wife on her fabulous cooking, then listen to the kids as they giggled and joked about how loud his belching was getting with each passing day. After doing this, he grabbed his phone then started dialing the number that he was a frequent dialer of for the past week.

His call, like all of the previous ones that he made to this number, was answered on the secondth ring.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end was sleepy and, without a doubt, young and feminine in structure. If not for his having spoken with the girl before, he would of said something around the area of calling the wrong number before hanging up.

"Hello, is your mutter around by any chance?" he asked.

"Grampy?" the girl asked.

"Uh, well, no... not exactly. Mr. Ballal." he said.

"Ohhhh, okay." the phone was placed down; the girl, he presumed, walked off to do as she usually did after he called the number that he did. A minute to minute and a half later, the phone was picked up; the voice that belonged to no other than his planet's heroine was heard next.

"Mr. Ballal?" Angel Irene said.

"Uh, well, according to the girl that's living under your roof, I no longer go by that name. It's "Grampy" now." he said back.

"Sorry if she offended you. She, and the boys, are still sleepy. We didn't get as much as sleep we use to."

He could imagine why. With all of what Miss. Irene, and her sons, and that teenage girl alien, had gone through, he wouldn't be surprised if none of them had gotten a wink of sleep. As he so expressed a wish in his doing, Mr. Leinart had placed a call to his number right after leaving the Irene residence. From what he told him, the alien man, quite surprisingly, was to live under Miss. Irene's roof for a while and, apparently, so was his teenage daughter. While he, and the president, would much prefer for the man to not be anywhere near the civilized parts of their country, they couldn't do a thing to sway Miss. Irene to drop or force him out of the shield or off the planet.

The man, who's blasted Trolls had caused him to have back-to-back Hyphemas, and was behind his wife's arm being broken and the many injuries that he received on the night that the dance at the Sushi Circle occurred on, was to live under the shield that was over the town of Elchesheim-Illingen for the next six months.

"I thought I saw my side of interesting characters before... you really should of seen him, Ajeet! I thought a serious fight would happen between us on more than four occasions; he's a card, and he's got one hell of a ripper of a temper to him that'll make one who's not steadfast shiver in their shoes." his country's president said about fifteen minutes after leaving the Irene residence.

"Which is reason enough for him to be thrown out!" he remembered saying. "Instead of doing this silly re-integration thing, putting innocent civilians, and her and her own sons, in danger, she should kick him out. This situation isn't a good one, and I'm sure as betting my shoes that Bettina will have more than a goose after hearing it."

"While, sooner or later, she'll hear about it, she won't have any say on what goes on or where anyone goes. Miss. Irene looks to be pretty well in charge of that family. She's got things well situated there." Mr. Leinart said.

"You sure of that? If this man has as bad a temper as you say he has..."

"You really should of been there—Miss. Irene jumped all over his case after a sure plan was in place. She wouldn't let him get word in edgewise... and she wouldn't let him budge her on anything either. She was just as determined as could be on that extra month being tacked on." the president said.

Mr. Leinart claimed that the man had a hissy fit after finding his way of wanting to do things as not being adhered. The alien had stomped of to the living room after learning that the first month of his and his daughter's six-month stay was being discarded and that a new one was being tacked on to accommodate its removal. Originally, the man was slated to be moved to a hotel that was near to the Irenes' house; he had managed to "weasel" that deal out and imply his own in its place. As far as he knew, the alien was taking up residence in the Irenes' basement for half of the day. He was living in the basement for all of a week now.

"Mr. Alien-Man in the basement causing you and yours grief again?" he asked his friend.

"No, honestly, he's been playing the low-game for five... six days now." his friend replied. "Everyone's tired because of the central—it went out on us two days ago."

"Get someone out there to fix it, or did you grab a whip then put Mr. Alien to work?" he asked.

"Took the maintenance man a day and a half to get out here. He came at around ten in the evening; we were up all night yesterday just relishing in that cool air that was coming from the vents."

And, if he recalled correctly, the temperature, for the last six days in Elchesheim-Illingen, was nearly thirty-four degrees Celsius. With the nighttime temperatures being near to what it was during the day-hours, there wasn't much relief for the ones who lived in that town. Of course Miss. Irene and her family had stayed up longer than usual; after two days of their house being the same temperature as it was outside, they were probably dying for some cool air to blow on their skin.

"How're you and yours doing financially?" he asked. A few days ago, during a mild conversation on how things were going in her home, his friend let it "slip" about her not going to work for the first four days of that month. She had cited "personal" reasons behind her not clocking in. From what he was told, Lhaklar had continued to go to work. He had a feeling that her not clocking in at U-Krop-It was putting a slight strain on the family finances.

"Had to dig into the family savings to pay the maintenance man." his friend said. He automatically deduced that this meant the family was struggling to get along. His friend was quick in confirming this. "We've be struggling a little, but we'll get by."

"Sure you don't want a wiring of funds?" he asked. "Or any type of monetary assistance from friends?"

"Thank you, you're too kind. We'll be fine." his friend said quickly.

"Should consider having that alien in the basement get a job—with his being the "cause" behind you having your family, he should help in getting the monthly bill money."

"Yeeeeeaaaah," his friend said in a long, drawn-out, fashion. "I don't think that'll be happening. Let's have him be a stay-at-home alien."

"He that high-maintenance?" he asked.

"No, not that. Think if I asked, he'd help in any way he could. I mainly want him to not be involved in the "work-force" for fear of his... you know, scaring or causing anyone anxiety." his friend replied.

"Aaahhhh, there's a tall, Gray Alien bagging my groceries!" he joked. Haimi and Chayla laughed, while Gretel made a face. "Quick, grab a net before he starts trying to take our brains!"

"Very funny." his friend said.

"Where's Mr. Alien this morning?" he asked. Yesterday, the alien was moving about in the kitchen... he was talking with one of the boys. The day before, he was sitting in the living room... watching tv. The day before that, he was exiting the downstairs bathroom. The man that Miss. Irene found herself "forcibly" married to seemed to have free-movement of the downstairs portion of her house; seeing as Miss. Irene said something about restricting his movements in the house a week ago, this was a shock.

"In the basement—sleeping."

After telling Mr. Ballal where her husband was, and what he was doing, then telling him that she needed to go, she hung the phone up. She went back to doing what she was before Eshal came in saying that Mr. Ballal was on the phone after returning the phone to its station.

Like she said, the unit that enabled her and her family's home to have central AC and heat went out two days ago. Tazir, who, for the last week, was going by her "order" in staying in the basement from the time she went to work to when she came home, had rang her up after it started getting a bit "uncomfortable" in the house. It was just him, Guyunis, and Lazeer at home at the time; everyone else was outside, enjoying the weather that was going on. Tazir gave her the word about the fluey unit and she gave him her word on getting someone out to fix it soon; sadly, she wasn't able to keep to her promise on doing that. While the call to the insurance company was made, and while the lady that took her call said that someone would be out in two to six hours to look into and then fix the unit, it took some time before someone actually came out to look at and then fix their AC. With the exception of Hazaar and Lazeer, who hadn't had a good run with their Temperamental phases on the two days that they didn't have any working AC to rely on to keep cool with, everyone had taken the situation well.

For the first four days following the "intervention" that the neighbors and Mr. Leinart had with her in regards to Tazir, everyone was on edge. Tazir especially so! Along with having his feelings punched and "dented" in, he was fearful over losing her and the boys again. She, in a lot of ways, had stayed home to deal with him and his anxiety; with his being so nervous and fearful over losing them, she wasn't able to go to work. Her conscience had prevented her from doing so. Tazir's movements were restricted for all of four days then, on the day that followed, he was allowed to venture to the kitchen and dining room; on the day that followed, the living room was added to his "privileged" movement zones. Tazir now had free movement of the entire first level of the house; if he continued being good, she had plans to let him venture upstairs... and, if he was extra good, he'd be moving his sleeping arrangements from the room that came off the basement to her bedroom.

She was looking forward to that. She had forgotten how good it felt to have him beside her during the night hours, and how good it felt when he snuggled up against her. Even though she was steadfast on what was to happen in the next six months, she still missed him.

"If, at any time, you need me, or just want someone to talk things out to, don't hesitate to call my number." Stefan said while on the way out of her and her family's house. It took all of two hours before the man finally got the "nerve" to leave her and her family. Mr. Klied, Mr. Abbing, and Mr. Kaiser had long since gone home; it was just him of the "intervention party" remaining.

"I will, and thank you." she said.

Before leaving the house, Stefan turned to address her husband... who was sitting on the loveseat. "Just so he knows, the old saying of where he's not invited to my place for tea and cookies still goes."

She stifled a giggle after remembering that Tazir responded to his saying that by flashing his middle finger at him. Stefan had simply repeated something that he said to her a few months ago in a sort of come-back cut-down; Tazir took it as just that.

It took her just two minutes to reach the basement. She went down the steps, then went straight for the tunnel that went to the room that her sons made last year. The idea of having Tazir sleep on a make-shift bed, on the floor of the basement, had never crossed her mind. That was a horrible idea and she wouldn't hear or have him doing it; he must of had the same thing in mind, because he never asked for any make-shift bed items or prepared an area in the basement for him to sleep on. She went to her sons' "Cave" silently, then stopped after seeing the sleeping form of her husband... how he was sleeping in the position that he was in was beyond her!

While the couch was appropriate for one to sit on, it wasn't really meant for one to sleep on. Tazir, who was all bundled up in a dark blue throw blanket, was all squished up on the piece of furniture. His head was just under the left arm's cushion; his left leg was sticking over its right arm; his right leg was under him; his top half was twisted just a bit; both of his arms were "pinned" under him... his hands were just below his chin, which was moving ever so slightly as he did his light snores. She looked at him for only a second before going to arouse him from his uncomfortable position. Instead of shaking him awake, she dropped to her knees before his head then started nuzzling him.

"The woman who had you before I came along was a sure-fire jerk," she thought as she worked to wake him.

From what she was told, Bespe Rakaduc wasn't the best of match for him. Instead of showering her husband in love, and showing him affection, and wanting to engage him in normal sex-acts, she used, abused, and neglected him. Bespe, for the most part, had used her husband for his money, surname, and social standing. The woman had only the betterment of her life in mind; she wasn't thinking about the life that she married. The marriage between the two was dark and love-less from start to finish; it only came to a close a hundred and fifty years after Eshal was born... Bespe, the actual mother of her husband's daughter, had wanted nothing to do with the little girl that she gave birth to.

Tazir didn't have to worry about having to use a razor after waking each morning—his handsome face never grew hair or fuzz during his slumber moments. Her husband also didn't have to worry about shaving anything else on him; he was just a naturally hairless man.

The head that she was nuzzling had a chiseled jaw, a forever creased, furrowed brow, and high, narrow cheekbones on it. Her husband had a devilishly handsome face that, she was quite sure, any woman would die to look at. She thought that her husband's lean, rock-hard, and ample muscled body matched that face to perf—

"Mmmm, I do wonder who's presence it is that wakes me from my siesta." her husband's gravelly-sounding voice spoke gently in her ear.

"A certain woman who's about drooling over how good looking her man is." she returned.

"If I wasn't on this couch, and had a good length of thin chain on me, you'd be cursing the words that you just spoke." her husband said as he got up from his sleeping position.

"The chain that you speak of wanting wouldn't be used on me." she said. She got to her feet, then started for the room's open doorway.

"Sure it would—one end would be attached to your wrist and the other to my headboard." her husband said.

She went back to manning the stove after waking her husband from his "siesta". Tazir, after she left his "sleeping quarters", collected his things then went straight to the downstairs bathroom. She knew the man's habits like the back of her hand, so she didn't need to ask what he was doing in there—the relieving of his bladder's contents was always something that he did first, then he took a shower before brushing his teeth. He'd do the usual of clothing himself after that was done—whether he did this latter task by saying a spell that made some of his clothing appear in the room that he was in, or "stole" upstairs to grab and then don his daily wears, she didn't know. As of the last two days, she hadn't been paying that much attention to his morning activities; she just figured that he did one or the other.

With things seemingly cooler with everyone in the house that morning, she made the decision to treat everyone to three pancakes each. She made the twenty-four pancakes, then grabbed eight plates from one of the kitchen cabinets, then made the call for her family to come make their breakfasts. Everyone collected their meal, then took a seat at the table; it was quiet for all of five minutes before the eye of her secondborn son landed on the newspaper... which his father was reaching for. Lhaklar's hand pistoned forward right when the man took the paper from the table; a sort of tug-of-war was done before her husband spoke.

"Either someone's getting a little slow in his snatching of newspapers or he's just funning around."

"Didn't have my full heart in on it," Lhaklar admitted. They all knew that this must be the truth; unless it was with her, there was really no contest with the daily newspaper. Lhaklar was either fast or stealthy in newspaper snatching; even as a young child, he was able to grab and then run off or steal a newspaper from his father as if it was nothing. With her, he hadn't been, and still wasn't, as lucky in doing that.

"Don't have your full heart in on it and yet you still have a hand wrapped around the paper." TazirVile said.

Lhaklar chuckled, then released the paper. His father, rather ceremoniously, opened then started reading it right away. What his parents didn't know wouldn't hurt him—he only did the snatch then tug-of-war thing with the paper to see if things had really evened out with the old man or if he'd do his usual in being strict with him. While it was early, a bit too early to say, really, he thought he detected a bit of change in the man's demeanor. He hoped that this was a good sign—after what happened last month, he was hoping that things would settle down and that everyone would be able to go by their usual.

With the exception of his sneaking out of the house to go to work, no one had left the house for the first three days of their father's stay in the basement. His father was too nervous to leave the house to retrieve the mail, or to do anything that, he guessed, he was required to do on Moas; the man had, for the most part, stuck to their mother's side like glue for all of four days before "venturing" from her. He was just two-days returned to collecting the mail—he and his brothers had laughed and joked about how he broke his neck in getting back to the house on the first day that he resumed his mail collecting; the second day, they weren't all that interested in poking fun at the man. The heat that was in the house was enough to knock them on their keisters.

Yesterday, after collecting the mail, then rushing back to the house, their father made the decision to make a "short" trip to his place on Moas. He was gone for all of thirty minutes; upon his return, he had two, brown leather duffel bags on him. He and Bile had watched as he unloaded all of what was in them—along with seeing him as having a portable turntable in one of them, they saw that he packed enough records to both listen to and last him six months, a brown walnut box, that had a carved leaf design and lock on it, a large bundle of mailed letters, another box, this one being long and made of cherry wood, a video player, with enough regular and home-based video discs to last him six months, and some books. After unloading, and then reloading, all of what he put in the bags, he asked if Guyunis could take it up to their mother's bedroom; Guyunis had only done so after the man moved away from them.

Like their mother said on the secondth of June, a replacement set of keys for the BMW were made and then given to him and Bile. The "intervention" must of caused their father to have a little bit of heart, because he saw to personally repairing and then giving Hazaar the Nvidia Shield back. Eshal's birthday, which happened three days ago, was a bit depressing... but their mother did just about all that she could to ensure that she felt special on that day. With today's many-made pancakes, the flour supply that was in the bag was now depleted; it was past time for the monthly shopping to be done. He was wondering if his mother was going to do that soon or if she was going to rely on a food bank to get some stuff to get them by until next month. As far as he knew, the water, home, and car insurance bills were paid; he wasn't sure if the other bills were paid yet. The maintenance man had asked for a payment of €150 to be given to him before he went to work on their central unit; their mother had gotten that as quickly as she could from the envelope that he stored the money that he earned via stripping.

"Have work today?" his father, who was still reading the paper, asked his mother.

"Yep—it's a Monday, after all." his mother replied.

"May I ask what bills haven't been paid yet?" Lhaklar asked.

"You may and you may also get an answer to your question. The regular phone, my cellular, the cable, and the electric—the most expensive of the four is the electric; I'll see to getting that paid in the next few weeks." his mother replied. "I might be a little late in getting the grocery shopping done; I'll do what I can in giving you and your brothers your allowances in the next week to two weeks."

"Don't worry about them," Bile said of their allowances. "The bills are more important, ma. Don't worry about our allowances this month."

The paper, that their father was holding, moved; it was like the one who was reading it had gasped. After the paper moved, it was dropped. Their father looked at Bile, then at the rest of them, before folding the paper then placing it by him.

"Don't suppose you'd want any help in paying off any of the bills that you're having trouble in paying this month?" their father asked their mother.

"Not really one for asking for help, Tazzy." their mother said.

"Pride to the side, Angel... would you like, or accept, my assistance in paying them four bills that you're having issues with?"

"I'd accept, yes..." their mother trailed off. They knew exactly what she was thinking: unless their father had the appropriate currency, he really couldn't help in paying the bills. While they knew their father had money on him—for him not to would be a shock—, they didn't know if he'd allow for it to be converted to what they used. "I don't think the four companies would accept Moas Dollars, though. Think they'd only accept Euros."

"No issue on my end," their father said. He stood, then removed a brown leather checkbook from his green striped tuxedo jacket; after collecting the item, he looked at their mother. "What's the tally on the four bills?"

"€525—€350 for the electric, €100 for the regular phone, €50 for cable, and €25 for my cellular." their mother replied.

"Heh-heh," their father laughed lightly. "was expecting for you to say something higher than that."

It took a lot for all of them to keep their jaws shut. Their father took a wad of cash from the checkbook while walking around to where their mother was; when he got to her, he smiled then gave her all of what he took from the book. Non-surprisingly, he placed the book back in his jacket after handing over the needed funds for the four bills that needed to be paid. While he was on his way back to his chair, their mother shook her head then looked the money that she was given. She was putting the money that she was just given into her back pants pocket at the same time that he was re-taking his seat.

"You'll find an extra hundred in what I gave you," their father said after sitting down. "Call it "rent" and "I'm-Sorry-For-Being-Such-A-Jerk" money."

Guyunis and Lazeer found themselves unable to control themselves; after hearing the man call the money that he gave their mother what he did, they couldn't contain their hysteria. They laughed for a while before going back to their breakfast; their mother, and the rest of them, said nor did a thing in regards to the extra hundred that their father gave her. They ate in silence for a few minutes before their father pushed himself back from the table then looked down at his right leg. The room's silence was shattered after he cleared his throat then spoke of what he was looking at.

"Don't suppose Saba's been fed yet?" he asked. Simultaneously, they looked under the table; an eruption of laughter happened after they saw that Sabine was rubbing herself against their father's leg.

"Think Sabine's about to steal dad from you, ma." Bile said after cooling down.

"Sabine," Guyunis said. Even though he was involved in the laughter, he didn't laugh as long, or hard, as they did. Even after being told the cat's name, their father couldn't get it right; he continuously called her Saba or Sabie, which, they knew, was annoying Guyunis. "No, I haven-k-t fed her."

"There a reason why? You usually feed her before we sit at the table." their mother asked.

"Go-k-t any eggs left? Think she needs a change in die-k-t." Guyunis said.

"Yes," their mother said. "but I'd prefer for her to eat the food that's appropriate for her. While an occasional egg is good for her, her cat food is what's best for her."

"I've only got one can of we-k-t cat food left and the ba-k-g's near done-in, mum." Guyunis said after being silent for nearly two minutes. "Though-k-t I'd make her a scrambled egg for breakfast then give her what's left of her re-k-gular food tonight."

Their mother gave a silent sigh, then stood from her chair. She was digging in the pocket that the money that their father gave her was placed in when their father suddenly stood from his chair; since his plate was empty, they figured that he was just going to collect it then go off to put it in the kitchen sink. What he actually did caught all of them by surprise—the man reached into his back left pants pocket, took a rather full, tan leather wallet out, then opened it. The next thing they knew, he was distributing pieces of paper around the table; when he reached Guyunis, he surprised them by not only placing his hand on his shoulder but by also "messing" his hair up. He and his brothers did the only thing that they thought fit to do; they looked at what was given to them, saw that it was real Euro cash, and that it was more than one month's worth of allowance. The fact that they were given two month's worth of allowance put them at momentary unease; unless they missed out on being given an allowance, they were always given fifty bucks to spend and use.

"Uh, this is two month's allowance, dad." he said after his father returned to his chair.

"After all of what happened last month, figured that you and your siblings deserve a little something extra." his father returned.

"Thanks," he said in a small voice.

"Welcome."

"So, what're the plans for today?" their mother asked after a full, four minutes of silence occurred at the table.

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to go out and do a little hunting." Hazaar said.

"Fine with me as long as you stay inside the shield and come back in one piece." their mother said. Their father looked at her sharply; none of them needed to know the "stress" that was going on in his brain.

"Plannin' on hanging with Kiefer and Killian for a while before heading off to... you know, get what I need for my pets." Lazeer said.

"Hanging with Angus and Aubin for a bit before heading out to do what I usually do each month." Bile said half-discreetly.

"Plannin-k-g on hanging around Lhaklar for a while," Guyunis said.

"Heading to the community center." Lhaklar said.

"Oooo, can I go with you two?" Eshal asked. "Been wanting to go there for a while now."

"Don't see why you can't." their mother said before Lhaklar could say yes or no. "Tazir, why don't you go with them? I'd like for everyone to be out of the house today."

"Thought we agreed that no boots would be thrown at my hind end." their father said. He then smiled. "I don't see a reason for me to say no on going to this center with Lhaklar, Guyunis, and Eshal."

"Get some exercise, and fresh air—let's not have you breathe but so much basement air." their mother said. She winked her eye at their father then stood from her chair.

On this morning, they did as they usually did after finishing breakfast. Their dishes and silverware were taken to the sink, where they were given a quick washing before being placed on the side of the sink that was reserved for dirty dishes. They then got ready to go. While their mother, Bile, Hazaar, and Lazeer left soon after breakfast was consumed, he, his father, and Eshal were "forced" to wait until Guyunis finished making his cat her breakfast. After Sabine was given a bowl of scrambled eggs, they left the house; instead of playing it dangerous by driving them to the community center, he said for them to teleport with him to the building's location. They left at the same time that Kurt Klied was looking out from the drapes that were over the window that was facing their house.


	12. Chapter 12

Instead of telling them that he made the decision to change where they were teleporting to, he kept his mouth shut. The idea of poppin' in to say hello to Astor and his father was haunting him for nearly a week now so, instead of showing up at the big structure that was at the town's far left side, they appeared before a store that was called The Pawn Cave—which was, more or less, on the town's other side. Guyunis knew at once where they were; he wasted not a second in getting away from the only adult that was in their group. Eshal and his father, on the other hand, looked around before turning to look at him... or, more at his backside, since he was already on his way to the door of the store that they teleported to.

While this part of town wasn't bad, it did have that old look and feel to it. Some of the buildings were lacking bricks in places, while others had boarded-up windows. The cobblestone walkway, that was under his feet, was really what made this part of town look and feel old. Astor Bonnaire Sr.'s shop was close to where an old gang once did its illegal business; Mr. Bonnaire didn't really speak at length about the gang, but he did let it slip about one of his family being a member of it. Mr. Bonnaire claimed that the gang, which went by the name of Black Gremium 36, mostly did robberies. This gang of mostly young teenagers had robbed the towns and communities around here for all of twenty or so years before finally deciding to move to a different town... which they didn't have much luck in plundering. The Black Gremium 36 had changed leadership after the move was made; their new leader, having grown tired of doing petty crimes, had made the decision to turn his petty criminal hoodlums into the real deal hoodlums that carjacked cars, kidnapped certain civilians, smuggled and distributed drugs, and killed for the sake of killing. About ten years after the move to Gernsbach was done, the Black Gremium 36 went extinct; the new leader, some fellow by the name of Ercanbald Berlepsch, was the last of it to perish. From what Mr. Bonnaire told him, the FBI and local police were after the gang for some time before finally tracking and then trapping it in one of Gernsbach's warehouses. Along with a big stand-off occurring, Ercanbald Berlepsch was the last to be on his feet after the bullets stopped being fired. Instead of admitting defeat, and accepting that he was caught, Ercanbald took his pistol then fired one final bullet—which went straight through his head.

He waited a few months before asking who in Mr. Bonnaire's family was involved with the gang. Mr. Bonnaire, though reluctant to speak much of the issue, had whispered two words before returning to his shop's counter. The man's second uncle, Theobald Hollweg, was one of the gang's most successful thieves; unlike Ercanbald Berlepsch, he was still alive... just serving a lot of time in the slammer for his crimes. Theobald had, apparently, moved to a different gang of ruffians soon after the Black Gremium 36 decided to move to Gernsbach; life of crime had meant so much to him that he would do anything to be involved with any old gang that was around. Unfortunately, the gang that he joined wasn't a very close-knit one, or one that compromised of plain criminals. A bunch of police officers had managed to infiltrate it; Theobald Hollweg was taken one cold night after a surprise raid was done.

The building that he and Guyunis were going towards was one of the longer buildings on the street. Other than there being a yellow or green brick missing here and there, it was in good shape. A few weeks ago, one of the windows was blown out by someone who had one too many; the window, which was boarded up the next day, had only just had its glass replaced. Up to about five or so years ago, the building was used as a bakery; Mr. Bonnaire converted it to a pawn shop soon after purchasing it.

"Hey, Astor!" he said in a slightly elevated, inside voice. He entered the building quickly then went to the back counter, where his buddy was.

"Hey y—"

While he was a little more sturdy upstairs, and a little more lenient in his thinking than his sister was, he came very close to reconsidering his friendship with Lhaklar last week. Meeting his friend's fader hadn't really gone well; the man seemed to be right strict, and to have a strange way of seeing how one of his and his son's age acted. If not for his parents, he would of come very close to breaking his and Lhaklar's friendship. It also took the combined efforts of Jarvis's parents to prevent the same thing from happening. Jarvis had obviously spoken of what happened; from what he was told, his parents gave him the "lecture" on who he should be placing "judgement" on.

Though happy to see his friend, he wasn't but so happy to see who his company was. He was about to say 'hey you old, ugly, green fool' when the shop's door opened. One look at the man that was his friend's fader caused him to do a brutal checking on his wording. Instead of saying what he wanted to say, he "bored" up.

"Hey Lhaklar." Astor said.

While Lhaklar had a more "age-appropriate" dress-sense to him, his fader didn't. His friend's fader had a strange, adult dress-sense to himself; Mr. Surfeit, as he was called, was wearing a striped, dark green tuxedo. The tuxedo's jacket had a long, split tail on the back that went all the way to the floor. The shoes, that were on his feet, were both very formal, shiny, and a very dark green color. The tie, that was around his neck, matched the tuxedo perfectly. The vest, that was under the jacket, was also a dark green color; it had artichoke green ties on it. The shirt, that was under the vest, was long sleeved; the buttons, that went down its front, looked of real gold. There were belled cuffs at the ends the shirt's arms. Astor took one look at this strange, six foot, one inch man before turning his attention back to his friend; he was just gathering air to speak when his fader stepped out from the shop's back storage.

"Lhaklar? Didn't know you had an older bruder who looks almost like you." Astor Bonnaire Sr. said after seeing who it was that was in the building.

"What do you know, y'went from being my father to my brother in a little under an hour." Lhaklar said to his father.

"Fa..." Astor Bonnaire Sr.'s dull green eyes went wide behind his slim, half-frame glasses after he realized his mistake. "I apologize, sir. I seriously thought you was—"

"No offense felt. My boy and I are always being mistaken for being brothers." TazirVile said.

"They say that the oldest son takes after the fader most in appearance, it does look like the truth with the likes of you and I." Astor Bonnaire Sr. said.

With the two men currently "engaged" in conversation about adult matters that dealt with offspring inheritance of appearances from the paternal figure, he, Guyunis, and Astor moved off to where the store's far left side was. Astor Bonnaire Sr., who looked very much like his friend, kept the place very well organized; there were glass counters full of jewelry, watches, glass, bronze, and porcelain collectibles, and the odd and end type of memorabilia on this side of the building. On the other side of the building sat more glass counters that contained tools, knives, and old items that he still couldn't place a name to. A mostly wooden counter, that had glass siding on its sides, was in the building's center; all sorts of guns were in it. Eshal was currently looking at the books and music and video discs that were on the bookcases that were on the side of the shop that he, Guyunis, and Astor were on. The building's carpet was a diamond-patterned blue and yellow color, while the walls and ceiling were a brownish-yellow color.

"Dude!" Guyunis exclaimed after seeing the B.C. Rich guitar that was hanging from one of the wall's hooks. While the guitar's base-color was black, it had all sorts of blue, white, and yellow electric designs on it. It had an Avenge-SOB hard tail body type to it.

"Like that eh?" Astor smiled, then went towards the guitar. "The guy who brought that in found himself unable to get it back, so dat put it up then slapped a price-tag on it."

"E-k-xpensive?" Guyunis asked.

"€300." Astor said.

"I best turn him around before he gets any ideas about wanting to turn into a guitarist." Lhaklar said.

"With his looks, think he'd fit in very well with a rock 'n roll or metal band." Astor said. Before Guyunis moved off, he punched his fist into Astor's own. "Okay, now that common talk's done, what're you doing lugging your old man around? Shouldn't he be causing mayhem at your place?"

"A sort of "intervention" happened last week with a few of the neighbors and our friend, Mr. Leinart. Think the man was scared straight." Lhaklar replied in a low whisper.

"Seems to be getting along well with my dat," Astor said. "Better grab one of Guyunis's chains; I've got my usual leash. When you leave, we'll have to be forceful in separating them."

"I heard that." Astor Bonnaire Sr. said right when they started to laugh. Mr. Bonnaire's admittance of hearing what they said made them laugh even louder.

Like the human—a rather intelligent, and friendly, gent—he also heard the reference to his son needing a chain to drag him from the establishment. While he was struck by what the boys said, he was keeping the bit tight on himself. Lhaklar and his friend, who he was still on the fence about, were just acting their age and gender, he told himself. He finished his conversation with Mr. Bonnaire then moved off to see how Eshal was doing. She looked to be rather enthused in looking at what was on one of the establishment's bookcases; he looked into her quickly before moving off to where the center-lying counter was.

He was a little irked over his son's little "side-trip". Lhaklar had said that he and Guyunis were going to the town's community center; he said nothing about coming here. This part of town didn't look favorable, or safe for one of his son's age. This part of town looked shady, and he bet a good many shady characters worked, lived, or just plain stood around, looking for trouble, here. After seeing where his son took him, Guyunis, and Eshal, he was near to willing to grab him by the shoulder then going back home; his son, and Guyunis, had beat him to the building, so he wasn't able to do that. He and Eshal had followed them into the building; while Eshal wasn't very familiar with establishments of this caliber, he was. Long before moving to Moas, and marrying Bespe, he was an employee at one of Tostaxi's—the city where he spent a good chunk of his bachelor days in—more renown pawn shops.

His father had done more than frown after learning that he, a fresh-comer to the bachelor scene, had taken on a job that a normal peasant would have. A lot of yelling, and cut-down letters, and ill-promises were made; his father had wanted him to jump right into the conquering game. He had wanted him, who had yet to fill out, or gain the full mind known to be possessed by a fully mature man, to gather an army then conquer a galaxy. The preservation of the family name, and the proof of the family still being as strong as it was before Shlock's Plague struck, was heavy on the man's mind; even though Kuruk was also on the bachelor scene, working on his mind and body, and getting ready for when the time came for him to finally go out to make a name for himself, he hadn't heard or gotten anything negative from the old man. For reasons only their father knew, Kuruk wasn't meant to be a conqueror; even though he was less sturdily built, the whole weight of carrying the family name fell on his shoulders. According to his father, he, back when he was younger, was doing nothing but "sitting" around, collecting dust in his bachelor's apartment and piddling around with a peasant's job.

His conquering days happened after he got over most of the emotions felt by his father's "loss". Before that day came, he promised himself to do the man proud by finally following in his footsteps; he did that after moving to Moas, then going out to conquer the Vaisha Galaxy. Even though his father regarded him as a conqueror, he still didn't regard him in the full definition of one. Sadly, the man had Kuruk so far shoved up his ass that he could care less about giving him any good words or regarding; he was his father's third, but second surviving, son, and he was built, thought, and went by life different than Kuruk... He'd always be considered the underling to his older half-brother.

"Now that's pretty," he thought of the first gun that his eye landed on. The gun was one of them old, Wild West-types—a Colt single-action army revolver that had engravings on the barrel and a solid bone grip. While intrigued by the design, he moved on—he had such a gun in his collection, so there was no need to consider looking at it further or purchasing it.

The gun that met his eye next caught none of his fancy. He couldn't tell what it was because of the patina that was on it. The patina, or dust, had eaten just about everything away. If not for the general shape, he would of asked why such a monstrosity was on-display... and why it was being sold. As it was, he thought that it should be removed from the counter that it was in then thrown away—if anyone had brought anything like it to his old workplace, he or she would surely find themselves as being laughed at.

A few 9 mm pistols; an old, knuckle duster pistol; two old, London Pocket pistols; a German Shutzen rifle; and an empty rifle block was what met his eyes next. He came very close to asking if he could see the German Shutzen rifle up close. The gun's body was unique; he had never seen such a make like it before in his life. After giving it a good ponder, he decided to just turn then wait by the building's door; he wasn't here to spend money, or look at the displayed items, or engage in further conversation with the building's owner, he told himself. He was only here because his son made the decision to change the location of where they were originally planning on going.

He was turning to leave the display counter when something suddenly caught his eye, and fancy. The split tail of his jacket swished by his ankles quickly after he turned back towards the display counter; when he performed a squat, his eyes met nothing but the item that caught his attention. It took him just two minutes to make up his mind on calling Mr. Bonnaire over and then asking if he could see the pistol that his peripheral vision had noticed. Eshal, Lhaklar, Guyunis, and Mr. Bonnaire's young son watched as the lock on the counter's glass side was undone, then as its glass side was slid open. Mr. Bonnaire, handling himself like any other pawnbroker would, took the pistol from its display then held it out to him. He thanked him, then took it, then started examining it.

"It's been in the shop for a while now," Mr. Bonnaire said after he started examining the pistol that he asked to see.

How no one had managed to snag such a fine gun like the one that he was examining was beyond him; what he was holding was a fine example of what the extinct Tuctians use to make and use. The humans called this type of gun a Flintlock when, originally, it use to be called the Tuclock—named after both the species that created it and for the fact that it could be tucked into one's pants or boots. The gun was in very fine condition; the hammer, the top and top jar screw, the pan, and the frizzen and frizzen spring were all intact and in near-perfect condition. The four barrels that were on it looked to have a form of gold plating on them, while the grip was an emboss black color, which he did think was unique. There was a swirl pattern design engraved on the grip; each of the designs that were on it were white, which stood out well on the piece. The trigger had a little dust and wear and tear on it, but that could be repaired with a little maintenance.

"Point-fifty cal., right?" he asked.

"Yessir," Mr. Bonnaire responded quickly.

"Do you know the exact name and number of this?" he asked.

"The number? No—that disappeared some time ago." Mr. Bonnaire replied. "It's a Flintlock Duckfoot 4-Barrel—the fellow that brought it in was French."

"Surprised that no one's come in to purchase it," he said as he gave the piece back to its owner, who was giving him a quizzical look. "While I'm interested, I'm afraid that I have no license that shows me as a citizen of this country, or planet."

If he wasn't bound by laws, and wouldn't be running the risk of losing the license that allowed him to be a pawnbroker, he'd go on and sell the man the gun without asking for a valid I.D. that showed him as being a citizen of Germany. It didn't matter if the pawnbroker was new on the scene or was working the business for all of their adult lives; at the end of the month, a receipt and all the basic information on the purchaser/purchasers of the items that were sold at a pawnshop had to be submitted. No excuses were accepted; it was either submit them two items or do a complete close-up of your shop. In the seven years that he was owning and working this building, he had never had the law come after him or be questioned over who bought this item or that item that was sold. He wasn't Uncle Theo; he was to do things by the books and, from what he could tell, the alien before him seemed to understand this. He appreciated that. Astor had said something about the man being of the strict and strange sort; as far as he could tell, he was neither. As was natural, he was nervous and a little bit shy of engaging the others around him; the five minute conversation, that they had, had shown him that he was also of the highly intelligent sort, which he, again, appreciated. He was relieved over not having to give him the explanation on why he needed to show a valid license that showed him as being citizen of Germany before making any pawn shop-based purchases.

He, Astor Hermann Bonnaire Sr., the husband of Aliet Kreipe, the actual father of Astor Hermann Bonnaire Jr., but the stepfather of his wife's daughter, Ada, was in the process of putting the gun back on its display when the boy that he did business with on more than one occasion stepped up. The boy cleared his throat before getting his attention; when he turned to look at him, he noticed that he had his wallet out. It looked like Lhaklar, who looked a deal like the man that he just showed the Flintlock pistol to, was taking a laminated square from his wallet. Even though he placed the gun back on its acrylic stand, he didn't place the glass siding of the counter back in place or lock the counter up.

"Noticed that you were right interested in that piece," Lhaklar said to his father after he turned to look at him. After speaking to his father, Lhaklar acknowledged Mr. Bonnaire. "Would he be able to make any purchases here if my license was used?"

"Technically, no. If he was the one doing the purchasing, he'd have to use his own license." Astor Bonnaire Sr. replied.

"Don't suppose you'd sell that piece to me, then do a witnessing of me signing it over to him after the purchase is done?" Lhaklar asked.

"I'd be able to do that, yes." Astor Bonnaire Sr. said. "You over the age of twenty-one?"

"Yes," Lhaklar replied, then added, "and then some."

Astor Bonnaire Sr. thought long and hard about the possible purchase. Lhaklar, though known to be one of Miss. Irene's kids, was also known to be well over the legal age that one had to be in order to legally purchase a firearm. Would he get into trouble for selling a gun to a known kid, who was well over the age that a human was allowed to purchase firearms, or would the purchase be allowed? Lhaklar, he knew, had a valid I.D. that showed him as being a citizen of his country—the kid came in wanting to purchase a few knives nearly a year ago; he sent him on his way without selling him a thing because of his not having a license that showed him as being a German citizen. He came under the belief that he'd never see him again; it was a big surprise on his part to see him coming back to his shop a few days later. Lhaklar, as far as he was concerned, was a good, respectable, and responsible kid; he didn't mope or complain over his not being able to sell him the knives that he was interested in and he didn't go around running his mouth about him being "a tightwad" either. Lhaklar had gone by the law in getting himself a valid I.D. made so he could safely purchase items that one who didn't have a valid I.D. on his or her person couldn't.

Lhaklar's friendship with his son, and stepdaughter, was another surprise. Never in his wildest dreams had he ever thought of himself as having members of his family being on friendly terms with any of Miss. Irene's children. He and Aliet had done plenty of blinking after seeing their two children coming home with Lhaklar one day. Astor and Ada had wanted to "show-off" their new friend; even though he was shown off, Lhaklar didn't act arrogant or snobby. Hands were shook; good, pleasant words were spoken; Lhaklar gave a little bit of aid to his wife, who, at the time, was trying to find the set of sewing needles that she dropped on the floor of their living room; then an hour to an hour and a half visit happened before Lhaklar went on his way. In his and his wife's eye, Lhaklar was a once in a lifetime type of friend; they were more than accepting of his friendship with their children... which was why he and Aliet were so shocked over learning that their son was giving it the thought about dropping him as a friend a week ago.

"Don't suppose you'd tell anyone the reason behind this thought of yours on dropping your friend?" he asked after learning what he did.

"No, you've got to twist my arm before I spill the beans." his son said. The look that he gave his son had done the trick in getting him to talk; even as a young child, Astor couldn't resist talking after he looked at him with one eye half-dropped and the eyebrow opposite it raised high. "After what happened today, when I, Jarvis, and Ada went to Lhaklar's place, I'm not so sure that being a friend of his is the best thing to continue. His dat doesn't seem to be very nice."

"His what?"

"His dat—one of them Gray Alien guy's that took up residence in the Rastatter Rheinaue nature reserve—has been living under Miss. Irene's roof for a while now. He got real hot under the collar after Lhaklar started talking tough to me and Jarvis. Even though we were just goofing around, he still insisted on our leaving."

"So, you're thinking about dropping your friend because of how his fader acted towards you three's playfulness?" he asked. His son nodded his head. "That doesn't sound like a good reason to drop a friend, son. Base your friendship on Lhaklar, not on his fader."

People, a lot of the time, change when they're outside of the home so he, in a lot of ways, found himself as having to take back what he thought of his son's friend's fader. Mr. Surfeit, as he introduced himself as being, might be a sort of Jekyll and Hyde; he decided to keep his eye on him, just in case he tried something while being in his shop.

He was weighing the odds of both favor and disfavor over the purchase, and was going through the motions of reconsidering who one of his two potential customers was, when his two customers walked off. Even though he stayed out of what they were doing, he tuned his ears as much as he could to hear what they were saying—who knew, maybe he could base his decision on the man by what was verbally exchanged between the two.

"What're you doing?" TazirVile asked his son.

"Helping you out," Lhaklar replied.

"You know you're too young to purchase guns." TazirVile said.

"I know that, yes... but he doesn't." Lhaklar replied.

"You and I could both get into trouble if what you're proposing to do is allowed to happen." TazirVile said. He placed his hand on his son's shoulder then leaned in so that what he said wasn't heard by anyone other than his son. "Don't think that I'm not appreciative of your help, son. I am. I truly am. But I can't allow for you to be shipped off to a juvenile correctional center for helping me in purchasing a gun."

"How'm I to be shipped off anywhere when no one other than you, me, and Mr. Bonnaire will know about the purchase?" Lhaklar said. "After making the purchase, take the gun home then stash it somewhere. Forge a document, or receipt or something that says that you made the purchase afterwards."

They spoke on the matter for a few minutes before he relented to what his son was proposing to do. Thanks to the job that he had in his bachelor days, he knew well how to write out receipts; the same went on his knowing how to imply signatures to them. Lhaklar had said something about getting the establishment's owner to sign the receipt after the purchase was made; if Mr. Bonnaire did that, he'd have something to impose on the falsified receipt that showed him as being the purchaser of the weapon that was about to be bought.

He and his son went to Mr. Bonnaire together; at first, the "Flintlock Duckfoot 4-Barrel" pistol was the only weapon removed from the counter, then, after careful deliberation, he asked for the German Shutzen rifle to be removed too. The transaction went smoothly. Lhaklar showed his I.D., then gave the needed funds—€250 for the pistol; €150 for the rifle. After the transaction was done, he stood by as his son wrote _I, LhaklarVile Closu Surfeit, a civilian of Elchesheim-Illingen, Germany, purchased these two guns for my father, TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, who was present on the date (June 9, 4101) of purchase_ on the receipt's back. Mr. Bonnaire nodded his head, then did as was asked of him in signing under what was written; he thanked his son first, then the man who the guns were just purchased from, then gestured for Eshal and Guyunis to follow him from the building.

"You let me have those now." TazirVile said after leading the four youngsters a block from the pawnshop. Lhaklar, who had the guns on his person, did as he was told in handing them over. "Thank you. Think we need to head back to the house now. Let me put these under your mother's bed."

"Here," though he felt awkward in doing so, Lhaklar pulled the left side of his father's jacket to the side then slid the receipt in his pants pocket.

"Thank you," TazirVile said.

When they teleported, Lhaklar discovered the effect that his father picked out for himself during his Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic days: a gold glow was left behind, as was a triple-gold flash. Lhaklar thought the effect matched his father perfectly—it gave off an affluent feeling... with his father being what he was, rolling in dough, and having a good, affluent air around himself, he thought it suited him well. A Guyunis-sized explosion of white smoke was left behind after Guyunis teleported, while a series of clouds swirled around him when he teleported. He honestly thought that Eshal's post-teleportation effect was rather girly; her whole body took on a bright pink sheen before an explosion of purple and light red happened. As if the bright colors weren't bad enough, sparkles, and a whole hell of a lot of them, were left in his sister's wake after she teleported from where she was.

He unlocked the door for his father then stood idly by. Guyunis, though confused over what was to happen next, stood by the final step of the porch. Eshal walked up the stairs then grabbed him; she pulled him down to her level then spoke one sentence that he just couldn't help but smile at.

"I hope your little trip to see that loser friend of yours didn't cause daddy to reconsider our trip to the community center."

"You're rather cute when you're annoyed." he returned.

Their father came out of the house five minutes later. After giving them a few-second look-over, he said for him to take them to the place that they were originally slated to teleport to. He did so with no lip at all; they appeared near the community center five seconds later.

"Is that it?" Eshal asked after noticing the building that was to their immediate right.

"Yep." Lhaklar replied.

Like her father, she was annoyed over the sudden change that was made on their teleportation location. She didn't much like the idea of appearing in such a dangerous place, or in going into that dirty, second-hand store, and she didn't much like the idea of her brother taking up her valuable time in checking out the stores in a community center with his need of wanting to "check-in" on one of his dirty friends. She was, in a lot of ways, phenomenally surprised over her father actually looking at and then purchasing two things from that dirty pawnshop; he would normally purchase the items that he collected from private owners or auctions... not from dirty places where who knew what grew or waited in the shadows. She was also surprised that he allowed for Lhaklar to purchase something that one of his age wasn't allowed to purchase; she saw Lhaklar's two, little purchases as a way to butter their father up, which she thought was wrong on so many levels.

The building, that was a short distance from them, did not look like a community center. In her mind, them places were bigger, and had more levels to them. This building, while big, looked to have just one level to it. The exterior walls were a slate gray color while the roof was white; the roof was flat and smooth-looking. She couldn't help but be miserable during the entire five minutes that she was trudging behind her father, who looked to be following Lhaklar and Guyunis in a daze. After reaching the grounds that the building was on, they found themselves as having to walk down a stretch of dark gray tarmac—the likes, of which, surrounded the building's entire front side. The tarmac was littered in places with pieces of paper, plastic and paper bags, and discarded food items that the birds were having a field-day on; she had to bite her tongue when she spotted the off-spots of black and dark green slime and gunk that were on its surface.

While the community centers and malls back home didn't really have clean or clear tarmac's surrounding their front sides, their tarmac's were a whole heck of a lot more cleaner than this one's was. She was about to stop then put forth the suggestion that they go back to the house when her brother walked through an opening that appeared from out of nowhere—there was a pane of dirty, smudgy glass in front of him a second earlier... after stepping on the mat that was sitting before it, it disappeared. Guyunis followed Lhaklar into the building without missing a beat while her father looked hesitant to enter for a second or two before stepping past the opening. After staring at the spot where he was formerly standing at for ten seconds, she followed him.

"I stand corrected," she thought happily.

On the outside, it didn't look like much while, on the inside, it was humongous. This was, without a a doubt, the biggest community center that she had ever seen! She was quick in noting that the building was deceiving on the outside—on the outside, it looked like one of them one-level type of buildings while, on the inside, it was a two-plus level type of building. Down the stretch of hallway before her, there were three or four small kiosks that catered to folk who liked photography, various forms of perfumes and cosmetics, high and low-end jewelry, and to those who were looking for small gifts for their loved ones. After leaning to the side a bit, she saw the barely-there outline of another kiosk that was in the adjoining hallway—going by the color, and the hot dog that was on its side, she thought it was a food kiosk. To her left, there was a small clothing retail store; a store of equal size, but that sold electronics instead of clothing, was beside it and a store that looked to cater to the needs of one who liked to read magazines and books was beside it. To her right, there was a medium-sized novelty store; a small store that looked to sell all sorts of candy was beside it, while a small to medium-sized restaurant was beside it.

There was an escalator down the hall a ways; it revolved in a swirl-like fashion right up to the building's second floor. A map-like pillar, that had a slot in its center that was full of folded up papers, was to the left of it. When she looked at her feet, she saw that the floor had Galileo blue tiles on it; the ceiling and walls around her matched the color of the tiles perfectly. The scent of pretzels, french fries, burgers, cakes and cookies, and popcorn wafted into her nostrils after she took in the floor tiles and the color of the walls and ceiling; if not for the three pancakes that she had for breakfast, she'd have a hankering to try something from one of the food kiosks.

She was so transfixed by what she was seeing that she found herself as being left all by her lonesome by the very entrance that she used to get into the building. She retained the urge to yell out for her brother, her second adoptive brother, and her father to wait up for her as she hurried along to catch up to them. Her father, who seemed to be a little more in control of his mental capacities than her, was quick in grabbing one of the folded up pieces of paper that were in the map pillar's slot after Lhaklar and Guyunis stopped before the escalator. He opened the piece of paper—which her temporary slow in processing brain noted was actually a map of the building—then started looking at it.

"Think I speak for more than myself on this one, Boys—this is a big place, and it looks to be quite full of stores." her father said about thirty seconds after opening and then looking at the map.

"How many stores, daddy?" was all that she could manage to say.

"According to this, there's over a hundred in here." her father replied. He then showed her the map; indeed, there looked to be over a hundred stores in the building.

She saw restaurants and stores that revolved around clothing, shoes, jewelry, and arts and crafts. There were more than enough electronics, book and magazine, and stores that catered to both movie and music lovers in the building too. She did a quick scan of the novelty stores that were on the map before taking note of the four or five squares that were placed at odd sections on the map's depicted first, second, and third floors; according to the map's table, those were the indoor play areas for the kids. The fact that the building had thirty department stores in it was mind-boggling—thirty department stores! That was a lot for one building! She took note of the small chains of convenience stores that were also in the building before shaking her head then looking away from the map; her father folded the map then placed it in his jacket then, for a reason that she wasn't fully aware of, or could see, started fiddling around with the pocket that he just put it in. She was giving the building's various decorative foliage a good scrutinizing when her father's hand plopped down on her shoulder; she jumped, then looked at him.

"Happy birthday, Eshal." her father said. To her great shock, he slid two, €200 bills then two, €50 bills into her hand; this, coupled with the €100 that she was given that morning, made her have €600 on her person. Never in her life had she been trusted with this much cash! She looked at the money, then at her father, then at the money again, before leaping at the man who entrusted her with what she was given. Her father gave her a pat on the head then pushed her from him; Lhaklar and Guyunis, she noted, had already moved off. She grabbed one of the maps from the pillar's slot then ran off to do some shopping; her father shook his head then went in the direction that Lhaklar and Guyunis were headed.

Letta Carver, who's father wasn't able to attend the intervention that happened last week, couldn't help but stare in shock at what she was seeing. Up to that very moment, she had expected for nothing of high interest to happen that morning. She had just figured that she'd spend a boring Monday walking around her town's community center; her friends, Petra Klied, Kai Berg, and Anja Bayer, were using the bathroom, getting themselves all dolled-up for the boys that were walking about the center, while she was just standing idly by, waiting for them to come out. To see Lhaklar and Guyunis in the building was a shock while seeing her neighbor's alien husband with them was an even bigger one. She watched as the trio went towards Antiquariat Karel Marel—a small store that sold used books to the public—, then she watched as Lhaklar and the alien man branched off from Guyunis. Lhaklar and the alien man went into the magazine shop that was to the left of Antiquariat Karel Marel while Guyunis went into Antiquariat Karel Marel. Letta, after making a note of which store who went into, made a bee-line for the bathroom that her friends were in; she was so quick in entering the bathroom that she found herself nearly running into them.

"Saw a cute boy that you thought we'd like to see?" Petra Klied, who was wearing red blush, mascara, and light pink eye-shadow, asked.

"No, saw someone better." Letta Carver, who was wearing a dark plum blouse that had an asymmetrical ruched neck and an open back, a pair of blue jeans that had a hole in the left knee, and slip-on, dark purple shoes that had a low heel on them, replied.

"Must of had a change of heart in making herself look irresistible to the boys." Kai Berg, who, Letta thought, was wearing a bit too much makeup, said.

"No thank you—my aunt works as a guard here; she'll let it slip to my papa about me wearing makeup. I'll get in loads of trouble if I'm seen walking around with it on my face." Letta said.

"We're just heading out, so don't let yourself get but so deprived of our company." Anja Bayer, who was wearing a green tunic top that had bat sleeves, faded blue jeans that had knee patches and accessories on them, and dark green heels, said.

"Oh, you won't have to worry any about that." Letta said smugly. She gave a smile, winked one of her eyes, then gave a flirtatious wave with her hand, then told her friends what she just saw. "Thought everyone would want to know that I saw Lhaklar and Guyunis—the alien man that Miss. Irene went and "married" was with them."

Anja Bayer, who lived on the next street over from the Irene's, only needed to hear that to get excited. Unlike her friends, she wasn't able to see a thing of the two people that her planet's protector had allowed to live under her roof. Her grandfader, Josef Arneth, had heard some of what was happening on Zweig Straße but he hadn't let any of what he was told get out to her. Her grammum, René Blum, was told small things about what her grandfader had found out but she was left completely in the dark; if not for Petra and Kirstin, she'd not know a thing about the two aliens that were in their subdivision, or living under the Irene roof. Petra had let it spill one day when they were eating lunch at school, while Kirstin confirmed what she said a little later on, when they were leaving church. To hear that one of the two aliens were in the community center was just too tantalizing to not check into; she dropped her makeup into her bag, then fluffed her strawberry-blonde hair a little, then turned to leave the bathroom. Her friends followed behind her like the good soldiers that they were.

While none of them were really of the soft or quiet-spoken sort, Kai Berg, who was the oldest of them at nineteen, and she, who was eighteen and four months, were the more wide-spoken ones in their group. For the most part, Kai was the one responsible for everyone at their school knowing about the alien man and his daughter living in their town; even though Kai was the oldest, and most wide-spoken, in their group, she was the leader of them—or, so she thought. Through a little chat with her cousin in the next town over, she had managed to let it "slip" about the two extra aliens that were living in Elchesheim-Illingen and, thanks to that cousin of hers, who had an older bruder who worked as a journalist, most, if not all, of the people who lived in Baden Württemberg knew about the two aliens being in her town.

If anyone had asked her if she thought that all the gossip spilling on the alien man and his daughter being in Elchesheim-Illingen was wrongly done, she would of come back saying that nothing bad would come from it. She was being her age, she'd tell any of them nay-sayers and questioners. She was enjoying her final years of being a teenager; she was trying to make due with what she had left of her teenage life before adulthood came calling. Why act like an adult when she was still a teenager, she'd say. If anything happened, it wouldn't be bad or worth any real time on the news. Why, her cousin's bruder's article was the only article written on the alien man and his daughter; a small buzz had come from it but nothing really happened because of it. The week of extra activity in her town was the only thing that came from it; no big-time news vans, or journalists from world renown newspapers, had shown up and there was no increase in polizei patrols. Everything, for the most part, had remained the same in Elchesheim-Illingen.

"How long's it been since you saw them?" Anja asked Letta.

"Five minutes," Letta replied.

"Think they left the shops you saw them go in?" Kai Berg asked.

"I hope they haven't gone to some other place." Anja said as she quickened her pace to the two stores that her friend saw Lhaklar, Guyunis, and the alien man go into.

It was a wee bit too late when Letta remembered what her father told her a few weeks ago in regards to what was going on in the Irene house and about the alien man and his daughter. Her papa had said for her to steer clear of the house and to not get involved, or go a step near the alien man... she found herself as breaking that month-old given instruction after finding herself standing two feet from the alien man, who just exited the magazine shop that he and Lhaklar went into. Her group had systematically split in two after reaching the two shops; Petra and Kai went into the used bookstore while she and Anja found themselves as stopping before entering the magazine shop. Letta put a little bit of distance between herself, Lhaklar, and the alien man while Anja went up to the two that just left the store. Anja was just starting to get in a good look of the man when a sudden commotion was heard—Guyunis, who had a medium-sized bag in one of his hands, was exiting Antiquariat Karel Marel; Kai and Petra were following at his heels.

"What, decided to show your mug today?" Petra was asking.

"Think he wanted to show off them locks of his." Kai was saying.

"Must of decided to show how much muscle he's dropped as well." Petra said.

He ignored the girlies as best he could; he did nothing to gain their attention, or deserve their rushing at him. Though only meaning to find and then buy four books that catered to his reading interests, he found a further four more that he wasn't able to walk away from. H.P. Lovecraft was one of his favorite authors, so he was quick in grabbing three books—The Whisperer in Darkness, At the Mountains of Madness, and The Shadow Over Innsmouth—by him. The Donna Andrews book, Lord of the Wings, had looked like a rather interesting book so he grabbed it too. The Second Time Around by Mary Higgins Clark; The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason; Secrets in the Ice by Rick Gangraw; and The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan were the other books that he purchased—he was one who liked reading action and adventure, suspense, and horror novels; with the exception of the H.P. Lovecraft novels, his purchases had plots that revolved around the mystery and suspense genre. While all of what he purchased were used, and had a little wear and tear to them, they were still in decent enough shape to read. He made sure to check them over before going to the check-out counter; none of his purchases would fall apart after he opened and then started to read them.

Up to his final adoption, he wasn't able to purchase books or, for that matter, have anything to call his own. The attic in his former adopted parents' house had served as his living space; an old mattress, that was all spring and little to no foam, had served as his bed. No accessories—pillows, blankets, sheets, etc—were given to him to sleep with. The mattress was the only thing that he was given to sleep/rest on during the night hours. With the exception of the items that were thrown at him, or that he found in the Meyers' trash, he hadn't owned anything. Most of the clothes that were in his dresser were thrown at him—as always, the Meyer's would throw him the rags that their kids finally wore out or didn't want anymore—, and most of the items that he managed to stuff in his jean bag on that final night that he spent in the Meyer attic had come from the Meyers' trash.

His old, but still usable, portable CD player—a device that the humans used in the late-1990's to early 2000's—was still in his possession. Justin Meyer, one of Lenora and Mathis Meyer Jr.'s sons, had tossed it after it stopped working. After seeing it in the trash one day, he made the decision to grab then do the hide-thing with it. He worked on it during his "containment" hours; it was working fine now. The pair of wireless headphones that he also had—the ones that one of Mathis and Lenora's daughters had thrown away in an attempt to get the newer model headphones that her friends were getting/using—had a little wear to them, but they were still useful. And the small, AM/PM radio that had a temperature reader on its side and a cassette player built into it—the one that Mathis Meyer Jr. threw at him one day after coming home from work—was still in good working order. While his old pocketknife—the one that Old Man Meyer threw out one day... the one that's bolsters were wobbly, and that's blade was all scratched up and half-dull, and that was lacking one of its wooden sides—was also still in his possession; he had formerly retired it after getting the two pocketknives that Hazaar went out of his way to get for him as Christmas presents. Everything else that he owned was new; the Meyer's would have a cow at how good he had it now!

Lhaklar's fader following him and his bruder around was most of the reason behind his wanting to go to a different store. Despite the confusing curiosity that he felt towards the man, he still didn't trust or like him, and he still wanted him nowhere near him. So what if an intervention happened... so what if things seemed "cool" at home now... so what if no fights or further acts of annoyance or "aggression" were happening between his bruders and the man who was their fader; he, honestly, saw no change in him. All he saw was a ticking time-bomb; the man was waiting for him and his family to drop their guards before returning to how he was before the "intervention" happened. If not for the man's "donation" towards the bills that his mutter was having problems in paying that month, and the €100 that he was given that morning, he would of jumped then snarled at him after he placed his hand on his shoulder. Shit, if his shock wasn't that great, he would of gnawed his arm off after he tampered with his hair.

His attitude towards the girlie was a little different now. Not only was he tolerant towards her being around him but he was now talking to her. She seemed okay... but he still didn't trust her, and he was still keeping his eye on her—and especially so when she was around Sabine! The girlie seemed to like his cat, which was causing him a bit of stress—what if she had a plan in motion that revolved around his cat? What if her intention in getting on his good side was a way to get him to drop his guard so she could play Cat Snatch?

His other reason in going into the bookstore was pretty basic: with €100 on his person, he could buy more than two books this month and still have enough left for the rest of what he wanted to get—his magazines, his smokes, maybe more than two models... there was just a lot that he could get with the money that he was thrown that morning. He was planning on using every cent of what he was given by that man.

"Hey ugly!" the girlie who had short, black hair and dark eyes in an Oriental face suddenly pushed him. The Oriental girlie's companion wasted not a second in slapping him on the rear, or grabbing the bag from his hand.

"For me? How sweet!" the brown-haired girlie opened the bag then started sifting through its contents. He was turning to collect his bag when his bruder appeared at his side.

"This is one of the reasons why I like the older generation," Lhaklar said. "Y'don't see this type of immaturity with an adult woman."

"Must be the reason behind you not having anyone on your arm." the Oriental girlie said.

"What kind of nerd likes these old author has-beens?" Petra Klied shot. The bag that she was holding was suddenly thrown to the floor; she was in the process of pulling her leg back to kick it when it floated up then coasted over to the left. Lhaklar grabbed it after it reached him; he then gave it back to its owner.

"Thanks," Guyunis said.

"No problem," Lhaklar said as he turned to go to some other part of the community center. "Let's get out of here."

Kai Berg, who lived eight houses up from the one that her planet's heroine and her five sons, and the alien man and his daughter, lived in, lunged after Lhaklar's back was turned to her. The bag that he had, which had nothing more than his June editions in it, was ripped from his hand then thrown to Petra. Petra smiled after he turned to look at her; she then tossed the bag over to Letta Carver, who was quick in tossing it to Anja Bayer. Lhaklar did nothing but watch as his bag flew from one set of hands to the other; he neither tried to stop it from being passed around or spoke about what was going on. He figured that they'd get tired of their game after noticing that he wasn't reacting to their actions. With the exception of getting his monthly porn magazine, all of his June editions were purchased; with his father being in his near-immediate vicinity, and with even he wondering if he had really changed, or was pulling a front in trying to get everyone to think that he was a changed man when he really wasn't, he had decided to postpone his purchase of that month's High Society—if he wanted to see that month's Playboy edition, he could always ask Hazaar about borrowing the one that he was sure he would be getting here in the next few days and, if he wanted to see that month's edition of Hustler, he could always ask Bile about borrowing his, which he had probably already purchased. The same went with if he wanted to see that month's Penthouse edition, which Guyunis would probably be purchasing here soon. While he and his brothers got different magazines each month, they pretty much read and were interested in the same stuff.

His father, for the most part, had just milled around. He knew right from the start that the man was watching him; he felt his eye on him the entire time he was looking at the magazines that were on the store's shelves. He had expected for the man to follow Eshal around, and to see what she was doing and keep an eye on her, just in case something happened that she couldn't handle. Instead of following his sister, he followed him and Guyunis.

The bag of magazines exchanged hands all of three times before finally coming to a stop. Anja Bayer, a teenager who lived on Obstgarten Fährt, had it now. The girl, who looked very much like a painted up whore, was waving it in a mocking sort of way. All he did in response was smile; this seemed to infuriate her, because she suddenly started flinging it all over the place. Though a little perturbed by this new development, he remained where he was and continued to not be responsive to her actions. Miss. Bayer's gray eyes got quite cloudy after he continued to not react to her immaturity; if not for the arm that suddenly swooped by her, he would of grown fearful over the sure demise of the magazines that she possessed. His father's arm was quick; neither he nor Anja knew how to respond after the bag was taken from her.

"Think I'll take this." his father said after he took the bag. With the exception of Letta Carver, who jumped back a bunch of steps, the girls all turned to look at him. Anja's mouth, which was wearing a coating of dark purple lipstick, was wide open. His father was in the process of walking the bag back to him when Anja, suddenly, shockingly, and without notice, screamed at him.

"How dare you! You have no right—"

"Think I have plenty." his father replied, calmly. "The contents of this bag belong to my son; you'd be held liable for destruction of property that isn't yours if anything in this was damaged."

"You can't do what you just did! What you just did was assault; I could call the polizei then report you for assault of a minor for what you just did!" Anja said heatedly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." his father said. He gave him the bag then turned to face Anja. "That's called Falsifying a report, which could get you in a lot of trouble."

"No it's not! You hit me when you grabbed—"

"I did no such thing, Miss. Bayer." his father said. Anja's eyes went wide.

"H-how do you know my name?" Anja asked uneasily.

"The contents in your purse spilled after you started tossing my son's bag around." his father explained. "A mind-reader such as I was able to pick-up on the name, along with your age and address, easily, thanks to that."

"He's bluffing," Petra said. Even she sounded uneasy.

"Am I now? Should I blurt information on all four of you or should I, my boys, and you fine girls part ways peacefully?" his father asked.

"You know nothing of me! You're just an old, washed up alien who shouldn't be on this side of the shields!" Anja screamed.

"An old, washed up alien who just so happens to live on the next street over from you." his father said. "I do believe I saw an Obstgarten Fährt on your I.D., and I also believe that I saw a 5-3-5 as the starting numbers of your address."

Anja's gray eyes went wide for only a second; when they went back to their original size, she smiled a sweet, innocent smile then excused herself. Petra Klied, Kai Berg, and Letta Carver did the same. The four girls started off slowly, then ran off as if having seen a ghost. He and Guyunis couldn't contain their amusement over seeing the four of them run off like that. They laughed for a while before resuming their outing.


	13. Chapter 13

For some, the art of the hunt was a "thrill" thing. Something to gain a trophy, or a high out a moment that would otherwise be boring. For others, it was for survival. Something to gain food for the table, or to keep warm on nights that were cold. While he was both of them things, he mostly leaned towards being a survivalist than a thrillist; while he kept various items from his hunts—the antlers, pelts, skulls, hooves, etc.—, he was mostly out to gain the meat that was on the animal that he brought down. His mother had put a considerable amount of time and effort in on training him and his brothers on the activity that he was doing. Their lessons had started at around nine hundred and twenty years of age; on the weeks that they were on vacation from school, they received further lessons.

"How to properly track, trap, run down, bring down, and collect the necessary items that are needed at home," he listed while sitting where he was. "How to not get hurt, and treat the injuries that one gets during the hunt, and how to keep watch of your surroundings, and collect the items that one wants to keep as a trophy—these are what she put the most emphasis on in teaching us."

Most of their lessons were given to them via word of mouth; only after learning them were they allowed to go with her on a hunt. At first, they learned how to hunt by watching how she did it then, after she felt the time was right for them to become involved in the lesson, they gave it a try. Momma, as he called her, hadn't just sat on a rock, watching them fail or get injured during them first dozen hunts; she joined them on their first three hunts then she took a step back to watch as they did the trade that she taught them how to do. If something came up, or she noticed that one of them was about to get hurt by the animal that they were trying to bring down, she'd rush in to either run the animal off or end the hunt by offing it herself. He came close to getting gored in the side by a Wildebeest on the second solo-hunt that he was allowed to partake in; if not for his momma, he would probably not be here today. His mother had rushed in to run that Wildebeest off then she saw to taking him home; instead of preventing him from hunting again, she said that he was to allow the experience to settle before heading out to try again.

Like his brothers, it took him around five solo-hunts before he was successful in taking the animal that he was hunting down. He still had the Caribou antlers that came from that hunt; his mother had seen to his keeping them as a reminder of his taking down his first even-toed ungulate.

Only when they were declared as being fully trained hunters were they allowed to go out on their own to hunt.

"While the loss of the animal that you've tracked, or were hunting, is the most annoying part of the activity that you're doing, the most boring part is the waiting game. With some animals, it's much too dangerous to track or run them; when you find traces of something that's too dangerous to track or run down, you wait in a tree. Use brains over body; your brain and body are the most important parts on you, so don't let them get injured during a hunt." he remembered his mother telling him and Lazeer when they were younger; at the time of their being being told this, Bile and Lhaklar were already given the verbal lessons, and were starting Part Two of their training in how to hunt. He and Lazeer had only just begun their verbal lessons.

He smiled when he remembered what he and Lazeer did during them early-given verbal lessons. Due to their feeling a bit jealous over Bile and Lhaklar being allowed to hunt with their mother, they turned their attention towards the insects—they used them as a sort of "training" aid to the hobby that their mother was teaching them about. Their mother had laughed herself silly over their antics of jumping on the insects that they saw, or of their stalking or "jabbing" at the insects that were ambling by the concrete walkway that ran around their then lived-in apartment.

When he asked for permission to hunt earlier that morning, he hadn't figured in the fact that warmer temperatures had only just settled over his family's side of Germany—the animals that either migrated to warmer areas, or were hibernating, had yet to return or wake from their prolonged sleeps. He spent two hours of wasteful time, searching for an animal to catch, bring down, then take home; only after 10:30 struck did he grow frustrated over the lack of finding anything to hunt. The retrieval of his communicator, the question of whether he could change where he was, then the teleporting to where he was now was done; so far, he had seen doodley squat of what he wanted to hunt. While frustrated, he was telling himself to be patient.

"All I'm seeing are birds!" Hazaar thought. Instead of going to Africa, a place that he was familiar with, and that he knew the fauna of, he asked for permission to go to Asia. His mother had given him her blessing after listening to him complain about how little game there was in their part of the country—naturally, he was to stay in the shield, and return home in one piece.

His primary target was a large-type mammal. Something that would feed a family of eight, and might cause his father's jaw to drop from the place that it was hinged to on his face. So far, all he saw were birds and insects—the latter, of which, was driving him up a damn wall! He didn't know if it was the simple fact of the humidity—it had to be right high where he was—, or if it had something to do with what he did with his hair that morning, but he knew that they were annoying the fool hell out of him! He also saw a bunch of rodents, and there was no way in hell that he was hunting or taking any of those home. A rodent, even a bucketful of them, wouldn't keep a family of eight fed. Shit, a rodent wasn't even a snack in regards to him and his family! He was after either a species of antelope, a large primate, or a wild cat; one or the other would keep his family fed, and he'd also have a little something extra to keep for his troubles—the pelt or, if he brought down a species of antelope, the pelt and antlers.

Other than the time where he "allowed" Lazeer to drag him along with him when he was looking for frogs and amphibians, he had never set foot on Asian soil before. This was his first, official, hunt in Asia and, so far, he wasn't liking what he was seeing. Birds, birds, and more birds. Insects, insects, and more insects. Rodents a-plenty... He had yet to see a single even or odd-toed ungulate, wild cat, or primate, and here it was, going on noon. The fact that Vietnam was known to have a rich diversity of fauna was the reason for why he was here; there was said to be around three hundred and ten species of mammalian life in Vietnam... he had yet to see a single one of them cataloged species.

"Maybe it's too hot, and humid, for anything that's over forty pounds to be out?" he speculated to the area's lack of mammalian life.

That couldn't be it. Vietnam had two thousand, three hundred, and sixty rivers and about thirteen small lakes in it. There were plenty of water sources for the animals to take a refreshing drink from, or to wallow or rest in. His butt had pretty much made itself at home on the branch of a tall tree that overlooked a portion of the Mekong river, which was the only river that he knew the name of here. He had just thought of it then teleported to its location; about twenty minutes of foot-travel ensued before he found a suitable tree to climb then sit and wait on for something to amble by that was appropriate to hunt down then take home. The river was approximately a hundred yards from him; not that far to throw a spear, or spot an animal coming closer.

"Vietnam's been experiencing a sort of crisis with torrential storms, and heat waves, for the last three months... Maybe that's the reason behind there being no animals around."

That couldn't be it. Animals were smart; they'd find higher or safer ground during a storm and they'd also stay in a relatively shady area when the thermostat rose to the over-uncomfortable category. Certain parts of Vietnam, about two months ago, had also experienced a week to two weeks of extremely cold weather too, so the animals in them parts had probably gone off to warmer areas where there was food, water, and shelter. With the population being what it was in Vietnam, the animals in this region couldn't of been hunted to extinction or driven out of their natural homes; with only a billion humans on the planet, there were plenty of animals around. The same went on there being plenty of space to travel and explore.

"Been sitting here quietly, so I couldn't of scared anything off, or given anything a warning to my presence. What I did with my hair wouldn't cause anything to detect my presence either—I used no chemicals or sprays that give off an odor; I just used beads and that hair glue stuff that I've been getting for months now." he thought.

The beads, that were in his hair, couldn't be giving off a shine—the leaves of the tree, that he was sitting on, were very abundant, and were keeping him well-hidden, so that couldn't be the cause of his not finding anything to hunt. The glue, that he used to connect the one strand of hair to the rest of his hair, was odorless, so that couldn't be it on why nothing had yet to be seen either. Maybe it was something that he hadn't detected—maybe a predator was in the area, and was causing the area's other wildlife to be wary of this spot. Like with the other forested areas on Earth, Vietnam had long since bounced back from what it was before all the plagues and natural disasters occurred—animal life was able to re-establish itself, and regain its numbers; some of the species that disappeared in some places had made a come-back to repopulate them areas. If he read correctly, there were new discoveries of animal and plant life happening all the time in the forests that were on either side of the Mekong; a species of deer, around five or so species of fish, a species of wild cat, and a dozen or so species of insect were discovered in the last five years here. With the area being this teaming in life, he should of seen, heard, or n—

Crack!

He stiffened. The spear, that he had in his hand, was poised... He was ready should something amble by, or come within good reach of sight. His every muscle grew taut; his eyes swept left, then right, as he searched for the cause of the crack—which only came from a twig or branch being stepped on—that he heard. He sat like this for nearly five minutes before deciding that he was wasting his time—a branch or twig fell from one of the trees then snapped after colliding with the ground or whatever it was that stepped on it had gotten spooked by what it stepped on. He lowered his spear, which he made soon after arriving in Vietnam by simply stomping his foot down on the ground, then sighed. It looked like that day's hunt was all for nothing; maybe it was time to cut his losses then go home. His mother could always make something at home, or pick something up from a restaurant or store for them to eat that night; there were other days where a hunt would be more successful.

Leaves and bark dropped to the ground as he stood. Instead of swinging from branch to branch, or using the jump then grab technique to get down from the tree, he just jumped from the branch that he was sitting on. His left hip, which had yet to heal, and was still giving him considerable trouble, sang after he landed. There was a barking sound to his left right after he landed; it was followed by the sound of leaves and underbrush being stepped on. He saw the hint of orange for just a second; it looked like his former assumption of a predator being in the area was correct. He shook his head, held his spear at-the-ready—who knew, maybe he'd need it to fend off a predator who was disturbed or something—, then started on his way towards the Mekong. He was drenched in sweat; he saw no reason in not throwing some water on himself before heading home.

"Wasted a whole morning," he thought as he dipped his hands into the river. "Go home, take a shower, hear the old man rant some, then head out to get the shit that I usually get each month."

He was throwing some water on his face when, to his immediate right, nearly out of view, appeared a mahogany-brown head from which sprouted a set of stout, upright antlers. Instead of turning to look at the animal, he decided to continue what he was doing—the water was cool and refreshing; maybe the animal was attracted to his actions with it or, quite possibly, was just curious about him. Either way, if it left where it was, he'd be able to hunt it. He threw more than four handfuls of river-water on himself before pulling his arms back. His red t-shirt was pulled from his back then thrown into the water; he got it wet before pulling it from the river then putting it back on. The animal, he noticed, had taken a few steps from where it was. The antlers, he noticed, had an extra buttress on them that was quite thick; along with looking to have three forks to them, they were about sixteen inches long. The animal had a mane of dark to slate gray fur on its neck, while its base color was dark brown; quite interestingly, it was flecked with white spots. If he had to make any guesses on how old it was, he'd bank on it being a young adult... and on it being of the male gender.

He continued as he was for nearly five minutes before snapping his ground spear up then throwing it. The animal, as expected, turned to flee after he turned to face it. His spear whizzed by the air after he threw it; he winced after both it and the animal disappeared into the forest. While he was fast, the animal was faster. He cursed then, for no reason at all, made himself a new spear; he went into the forest that the deer disappeared into for, again, no reason. Maybe he was hoping to find his original spear embedded in a tree, or the animal that he tried to bring down. He entered the forest while swatting at the new trove of insects that suddenly formed around him; if not for this sudden drive and curiosity to check into the area where the animal disappeared into, he would of gone home.

"Momma always said to look into the areas where your hunting weapon disappeared into; you don't want to leave an animal that you miraculously took down behind, and you don't want to leave sharp objects that one could harm themselves on behind either." he thought after entering the forest.

Either his luck had turned for the better, or he went into the forest at the right time. A large, robust, muscular, and flexible animal was just ambling by; he speared it before it could get away. The animal, he noticed, had a dark mahogany head; the hind quarters, tail, and half of the forelegs were that same dark mahogany color while the rest of the animal was yellow. The tail was about two-thirds the length of the animal; it was quite hairy. While the fur wasn't soft, or long, or fluffy by any means, there was a lot of it. The animal's feet were broad, while its legs were short and strong; it had large and broad ears that had rounded tips. At best, it weighed around twelve or so pounds—much too small for a family of eight... but he could very well keep it as a trophy.

The real prize, he noticed, after taking in the animal that he just speared, was ten yards away. Somehow, he managed to nab the animal that he originally saw and threw his spear at. It was a two-for-two type day; his waiting had paid off with not one but two kills and, wouldn't you know it but he might just be able to get the robust animal stuffed then put up in his room. He was, without a doubt, going to keep the deer-like animal's unique pelt, hooves, and antlers; maybe, if there was enough to go around for everyone from this one animal, he'd be allowed to keep the whole head as a trophy. He sent the robust animal to the basement first then went to examine the animal that he saw and threw his first spear at.

"Don't see how I wouldn't be allowed to keep the pelt, hooves, and head." he thought after reaching the downed animal then giving it a good looking-over. "This thing has to weigh over a hundred pounds, easy!"

A growl sounded nearby, which caused him to say the spell that sent the larger of his two kills back home. He followed suit immediately. The tiger, that was eyeing his kill, made a disgruntled sound before moving off; he was in the process of going into the house that his family lived in when the predator came upon a doe of the same animal that he managed to take down. Nature sometimes provides for both hunting parties, he would of said if he saw the cat take down the doe.

Before going into the house, he discarded the spear that he used to take the smaller animal down with. He smashed it to pieces, then dug into his pants pocket for the keys to the house. Once the keys were in his hand, he withdrew them then inserted the appropriate one into the door's lock; when the door was unlocked, he let himself in. While the cool, refreshing AC was enough to stop anyone who was outside, sweating his balls off in a tree while waiting for some animal to amble by, he stopped for another reason. Either someone did a lot of shopping, was doing some heavy-duty cleaning in his, or her, room, or he was in the wrong house. There were a lot of bags in the hallway that came off the foyer. When he looked in the living room, he saw that there were a lot of bags in there too. Even the dining room, which looked so like that of his family's own, was full of bags.

Though curious as to what the bags contained, he sustained his urge in wanting to look in them—he was still not sure if this was the house that he and his lived in; it'd be quite nice to see an article in the paper about his being arrested for mistaking a house that he thought was his, and about his going through bags that were left out and about in said house, now wouldn't it? Instead of looking through the bags, he called out to whoever it was that was in the house.

"Hey! Anyone home?"

"Yeah! Me!" a feminine voice, that belonged to none other than his sister, replied. He sighed after realizing that he was in the right house then listened as someone came down from upstairs. His sister entered the dining room a few seconds later. After entering the room, she stopped then eyed him. She then said, "I hope you didn't touch anything—I've yet to go through it."

Well, that answered the second question that he was wondering: the bags belonged to his sister, who obviously did some shopping. With the exception of the time when his mother went out to purchase all of the house's smaller appliances, and most of the extras that were in the house, he hadn't seen so much excess in plastic bags before. The day after Mr. Leinart helped them in getting the house, its utilities and main furnishing, and the car, his mother made the decision to take them out to grocery shop; after getting the groceries, then coming home to put them away, she went out to do some personal shopping for the house. It cost her a mean, pretty penny, but she did all the personal house shopping in one day; while she was "allowed" to take the items that she purchased from their bags, she wasn't allowed to put them away. They "helped" in setting some of the things that she purchased away about an hour after getting home from purchasing their usual monthlies and, of course, checking out the town.

He was so instantly reminded of that first, official day that they started living in the house that he almost believed that he was experiencing a sort of Deja vu. If not for his sister, he would of gone around asking if his mother was home.

"I thought Bile reeked when he came in... The smell that's coming from you is ten times worse." Eshal said, jotting him from his shock, and thoughts. He blinked his eyes then turned to look at her.

"What do you expect for me to smell like? I've been in a hot and humid environment all day." he said back.

"Daddy'll have you going upstairs the soonest he sees you." Eshal said. "You need a shower, and badly too!"

With the fingers of her left hand, Eshal pinched her nose shut. His sister used her other hand to "wave" the smell that she was detecting from herself. Seeing as he couldn't help, or stop himself from doing it, he lunged at her. Eshal squealed as she leaped back; he couldn't help but smile and laugh at her response to his attempt to "hug" her. After lunging at her, he removed his shirt; he flung it over his shoulder, smiled at his sister again, then went towards the basement, where his two kills were. While he was quick in going to the door that went to that room, he was slow in going down the stairs and in going towards his two kills—his father was standing by the washer and dryer; his cellular was "stuck" to the side of his head.

"Uh, well, I'd say pallet wood would be the best for that chamber." while he saw his son, he didn't turn to acknowledge him. With this being the only place where clear cellular reception was a near-fire guarantee, he couldn't afford to do that. The chambers that were beside the ones that Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer were using as bedrooms were long since set-up for them while the one that was beside Bile's wasn't ready. Too much was going on for him to check into and then give out the orders on what was to be added to it; the only thing that was different with it was the lack of furniture... It was gutted of all furniture over a week ago. With Bile being one who liked rustic-made things, and with rustic-made shelving being difficult to track down, he was leaning towards the chamber that was to the left of the one that was Bile's having something around pallet wood shelving in it—that was the only thing that he could think of to put in it in the form of shelving.

This was the first time in over a week that any work was done on the chambers that sat to the left of the ones that his sons owned as bedrooms. With the neighbors, and the "president" of the country, showing up to do their "intervention", and with all of what he faced after that "intervention" took place, he wasn't allowed to do much of anything. Worry over losing his family had clouded his usual confident feelings; worry over losing his loved ones had caused him to close up to most everyone; and worry over being kicked out from under the roof that his family was living under had caused him to cease going to Moas... If not for growing a little ballsy yesterday, he wouldn't know a thing of what was going on at home, or with his family. Along with this being the first time that he had returned to doing any work on the chambers that sat to the left of the ones that were his sons', this was the first time that he had used his cellular; he was, in a lot of ways, taking advantage of the decent vibes that he was feeling.

If that intervention had shown him anything, it was to never cross his wife or try to show her up when it came to the boys and their needs/interests... It also showed him how nosey the neighbors were, and how much of a jerk he was during the first month that he and Eshal were living under the roof that Angel and the boys were under. He loved Angel and the boys; he shouldn't be trying to undermine his wife from being the mother that she was use to being with them and he shouldn't be disrespecting or trying to hurry the six months that he and his family were to reside on Earth either. Be a parent, yes, but don't hurt the ones that you love while doing so, that was one of the many lessons that he learned a week ago.

He, Lhaklar, and Guyunis had spent around two hours in the town's community center before returning to the house. Lhaklar had spent around a quarter of what he was given while Guyunis spent nearly half of what he was given. Eshal, in stark contrast, had spent every cent of what he gave her. While he was a little reluctant in sending her off to shop a building on her own—normally, he'd have one of his staff, or, if she was with friends, one of the parents of her friends, to accompany her on her shopping trips—, he had made the decision to do so after seeing how safe it was in the area where Angel and her sons had "set up shop". There was a protective shield over their area that kept his power-hungry nephew, and any and all of his enemies, out, so everyone was safe to go by their own without having to do but so much shoulder checking. Eshal had only just returned to the house; Guyunis had spent around an hour to an hour and a half in the house after returning from the community center before heading out again. Bile had come in about two hours ago... Of course, he reeked of that marijuana crap; as per request of his, his son went up to rid himself of that smell. Bile went off to spend some time with his friends after showering; what he was doing was beyond him... He hoped that he wasn't smoking, or getting into trouble. He didn't know where Lhaklar, Guyunis, or Lazeer were; judging by the two animals that were in the corner, and his shirt-less secondborn son, Hazaar had only just returned to the house.

At the moment, he was on the phone with Synjin Cholol—a young Goblin in his service who seemed to know his stuff on home decoration and remodeling. If he wasn't there to personally oversee the remodeling and decoration of his residence's chambers, Synjin would be appointed the job. After having the chamber gutted of its furniture, then sitting around, waiting for him to return home so he could ask him some questions on what type of shelving and display counters were desired to be put in it, he made the decision to call him; with the exception of the probable pallet wood shelves, he was on the fence on what type of display counters would be put in the room. Like with Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer, Bile would have three display counters in the chamber that he'd use to display his models and hunting trophies in... the issue on the type that would be ordered and then put up wasn't known right now, though. He was willing to stick his neck out on having Mr. Cholol choose the counters for his son.

"I'll see what I can find then phone you after its been ordered, then set-up, sir." Synjin Cholol said.

"Thank you," he said in return. The call was ended on that note; after pressing the END-button that was on his phone with his stylus pen, he turned to speak to Hazaar, who had since gone over to where the two deceased animals were. "Had more than a decent hunt I see."

"Up to a few minutes ago, wasn't doing so hot." his son replied. "Think a tiger was scaring everything in my area away."

Hearing Angel give their son, who was in his very young teenage years, permission to hunt was startling. If not for the bit that was in his mouth, he would of said something about Hazaar being allowed to hunt... which would of probably landed him in the hot seat that a husband who crossed his wife would find himself as being forced to sit in. He was glad to see that his son was back, and that he was uninjured. The same went on his hunt being a successful one. Hazaar looked a little hot, and sweaty, but he was fine. He had worried all during the time spent in that pawn shop, and community center, about Hazaar; he was glad that the worry was all for nothing.

"Decide to be an ambush hunter, or were you out and about the entire time?" he asked.

"Don't think I'll be sitting anytime soon—used a tree for all of two hours before deciding to head home. Came by these after making that decision." his son replied.

"Going to see to removing everything from them animals yourself, or are you looking for your mother to do that?" he asked.

"I've got that on the larger animal—think I'm going to get the head preserved on Bambi. I'm going to see about getting the smaller animal preserved." his son responded.

When one collected from their kills, the area around them never stayed clean. He wasn't but so surprised over the basement getting a bit messy after he and his son spoke on his hunt, and on the two animals that he managed to bring down. Instead of heading upstairs, to his usual "post" on the living room couch, or on one of the dining room chairs, he sat on one of the basement steps then watched as his son went to work on the two animals. Hazaar went upstairs only once; when he came back, he had a large knife, a cooking bag, and a square of plastic on his person. The smaller animal, which had a resemblance to a weasel, was put in the bag quickly; his son went to work on the larger animal after the smaller one was squared away.

A few months ago, he found himself as wondering what his sons collected from their hunts. He had wondered if they acquired a taste for organ-meat, or if they just discarded the organs that they took from the animals that they brought down. Either Hazaar had a taste for organ-meat or he was collecting the organs from the larger animal for someone else; a perfect cut was made down the center of the animal then the organs were carefully removed. Hazaar took the heart out first, then he removed the liver and kidneys. Hazaar, quite surprisingly, discarded the intestines. His son removed the head and neck of the animal next—and quite perfectly too! The head and neck were placed on the piece of plastic; Hazaar rolled them them up before returning to his kill. The pelt was removed next. Hazaar draped it over the dryer carefully before returning to his prize.

"Shouldn't be but so surprised." he thought as Hazaar started using the knife to cut chunks of meat from the animal. "Angel was born and raised in the wilderness—in Greece. Her lessons on survival started at an early age; looks like she's passed that knowledge to the boys well."

It took about an hour before his son was done with the cultivation of his deer. The basement was a soaked, bloody mess, but his son looked pleased with what he did in collecting what he could from his kill. He saw to the task of getting his son a few plastic bags and pieces of plastic after the final collection of meat occurred; when he returned to the basement a few minutes later, he gave his son these items then stood back as the cultivated items were put away. He helped his son in taking the meat and organs to the refrigerator; Hazaar only returned to the basement to clean the floor, and to collect what he wanted to get preserved. When he returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, he looked dog-tired and in desperate need of a shower and rest.

"Here, let me relieve you of this." he did the only thing that he could think of doing after seeing how tired his son was. He took the two things that Hazaar wanted to get preserved, then said that he'd see to getting them preserved for him, then said for him to head upstairs to shower and rest up.

"Thanks," Hazaar said, then started for the stairs.

Thanks to his sister, he and his wife weren't left in the dark about what happened in their town's community center between their daughter and her friends and Lhaklar, Guyunis, and the alien man. Aloisa, who started working as a guard for the community center nearly ten years ago, had seen the entire thing unfold on one of the monitors that were in the building's security room; she hadn't beat around the bush in calling him, or in telling him what she saw. The first thing that he did after getting home from work? Go right up to see Letta, who was reading a hefty women's fashion catalog in her bedroom at the time. His daughter did the best that she could in pulling a front; she claimed that she did her best to stay clear of the alien man, and that she wasn't involved in the bullying of the two Irene boys. His oldest daughter was grounded for two weeks—for not doing as she was told and for bullying.

He had never been one for anyone ganging up on another and he was very against the notion of a group of people ganging up on one or two others. It was wrong, it was degrading to both parties, and it gave quite a nice reputation to both the bullies involved and the ones who were raising them. Aloisa had said something about Petra and Kai being the ones who started the bullying; if that was true then maybe he and Ima should consider keeping Letta from the two. He and Ima were trying to raise their daughters to be good, respectable people, not people who took advantage of others, or did their best to make the lives of people who were smaller or less fortunate than them, or had mental or physical handicaps, miserable.

He arrived home at 2:30. The alien man, who, from what he was told, had one hell of a temper tantrum on the secondth of June, after Mr. Klied, Mr. Kaiser, and Mr. Abbing went over to see what was going on in the Irene house after hearing a lot of yelling and screaming coming from within the house, was on his way to the mailbox at the time. The man, as seemed to be his usual, collected the mail then went back to the house. A FedEx van pulled up in the Irenes' driveway about an hour later; he was still reeling from the surprise that he saw after noticing that it was Guyunis who did business with man who was driving it. Two boxes, one being normal in size while the other being longer, were taken into the house after the boy signed the paper that was on the clipboard; it seemed that Miss. Irene, or one of her sons, did some online or catalog shopping earlier that month.

Ima came home with a lot of papers to grade about an hour after he came in, while Jolanka just came in with a bad cut to her arm. Letta was currently all "cooped-up" in her room, with nothing to do but stare at the walls and watch others as they went by their lives. Since his wife was busy with her papers, he went to work in looking after Jolanka's injury.

"Ouch!" Jolanka winced after the antiseptic touched the wound that she had on her elbow.

"From rough housing with the boys again?" he asked. Even though Jolanke was a girl, she typically only hung out with the boys. She was a sort of tomboy, or someone of the female gender who exhibited characteristics or behaviors that a boy would usually show.

"No, fell from my skateboard." his daughter, who had a dark skin complexion, dark eyes, and short, dark auburn hair, replied.

"Mum and I've been telling you these past few years to be careful with that skateboard." he said with a sigh. The skateboard, that his eleven year old daughter just mentioned as using, was given to her two Christmases ago; she used it whenever the weather was decent.

"The board just went back on me after I finished grinding a rail," Jolanke explained. "It got me a good one, eh?"

"That and more." he replied.

"Anything happen in the 'hood today?" Jolanke asked.

"Of any high-deal interest? No, not really." he replied. "Letta was grounded."

"For what?"

"For going against your Commander's order in staying away from the alien that's living in Miss. Irene's house." he said, then added, "And for bullying two of Miss. Irene's sons."

"He's out an' about?" Jolanke asked. "The alien, dat, he's out an' about again?"

"Seems to be. I'll probably be needing my AK-47 here soon—Mr. Alien was seen in the community center today; Lhaklar and Guyunis were with him."

Two days after the intervention occurred, Mr. Klied came over to give him the scoop on what was to happen in their neighborhood for the next six months. Not only did it look like the Grün Bach subdivision was to have two extra aliens living in it for a while but it also looked like Miss. Irene and her five sons were slated to be removed from the planet in November. He, honestly, had mixed feelings about that. He wanted yet didn't want the Irene family to go; the neighborhood would go back to being its normal, quiet self with little to no high-interest activities happening but it'd be lacking one of its people that made it seem sort of special. The alien activity that was happening on his side of the planet would probably cease almost all together, but the planet would be lacking its protector and her five sons. Miss. Irene was a fine, and pleasant, woman, and her sons were a good bunch; they would be missed after leaving, he was sure of that. He had a concern over what would happen after she left for whatever planet the alien had in mind to take her and her sons to: what would happen to Earth after she was gone? Would she be forced to stay away, or relinquish her duties as its protector, or would the alien man allow her to retain her ties to the planet and allow for her and her sons to return to it from time to time?

Mr. Klied had said nothing on whether Miss. Irene, or her sons, would be allowed to continue any friendships that they made and he also didn't mention anything about whether the alien had any intentions on taking the shields that were over the eastern hemisphere down after November came around. He was quite sure that the date of the expected removal from the planet was going to be a low one for both him and everyone else who lived in the Grün Bach subdivision... for everyone on Earth, actually. The planet's protector was leaving, and the fate of the planet would be in the air; he was telling himself that six months was a long time to confront these mixed feelings, but he knew better... For some, six months went by very fast. He was hoping that the months between now and November went by slow.

In a way, he cursed himself for not being available to attend the intervention. He and his wife were at a school-run dance at the time; they were chaperoning, having a good ol' time, while the neighbors were squaring off with the alien man. From what he was told, President Leinart was also involved in the intervention. President Leinart was the one to bring the intervention to light; if not for his arrival to the house, and his verbal altercation with the alien man, Mr. Klied, Mr. Kaiser, and Mr. Abbing wouldn't of gone over to see what was going on. President Leinart had stayed at the house longer than the neighbors, so he probably knew some of the answers to the questions that he was concerned about. Since he didn't know the man's number, or address, he was left to his own devices with his concern.

"There you go," Almeric Carver, a tall, muscular man, who had long, medium-auburn hair and blue eyes, said after wrapping the wound that his daughter had on her arm.

"Thank you," Jolanke said.

"Sounds like the cavalry's coming to town," Almeric said after hearing Miss. Irene's car horn being blared.

Thanks to the major spill that happened in the beverage aisle, and a colleague of hers, who stopped her to chat about the probability of the weather finally returning to normal, she was a bit late in getting home. A bunch of wily teenage boys were throwing and kicking a hacky sack around in the store about ten minutes before her shift was slated to end; their playful antics had caused four of the store's wine bottles to fall from their shelves. Instead of admitting their mistake, and paying for the four bottles, and the contents that spilled out on the floor, the boys ran off. It took her forever to get that aisle clean; with everyone being busy in either stocking shelves, working the registers, bagging groceries, or taking in inventory, she was the only one available to clean up the mess.

After cleaning the mess, she clocked out then started collecting her things. She had only just reached the parking lot when the voice of Leoni Danneberg reached her ears. Leoni was a newcomer to U-Krop-It, and she was more than thrilled to be working alongside her; the girl, who was just barely out of her teens, went on and on about the weather and about how much she was hoping for everything to calm down so she could go camping with her family next weekend. Instead of being rude in cutting their conversation short, and in saying that she really needed to get home, she listened to her jowl. After nearly twenty minutes, the talking stopped; Leoni went on to talk to someone else while she went to her car. With the exception of the electric bill, regular phone bill, cable bill, and the bill for her cellular being paid, she hadn't done anything else that needed to be done that month.

She was met by the usual sight of her husband when she reached the front door. Tazir gave her an inquiring look for only a second before smiling then saying 'gotcha'; he stepped out of her way then followed her into the house after she went in. She did her usual in giving him her purse—her husband smiled, then slung it over his shoulder; he took it to the kitchen then placed it on the counter, where it remained until she returned to retrieve it a few minutes later. With this little action being noted, she wasted not a second in grabbing the seat of his pants, or in planting a kiss on his cheek, after he left the kitchen and dining room area.

"Good boy," she said, teasingly.

"Woof," TazirVile replied.

"Stop it." she retained the giggles that wanted to come out.

"Make me." TazirVile said in return. He smiled, grabbed her in a hug, then lightly pushed her back. "Unless someone's doing the sneak-routine in returning home, it's just you, me, Eshal, Guyunis, and Hazaar who's home."

"Good to know that I won't be attacked by a ravenous husband." Angel replied. "Curfew's at seven; the house'll be full by then."

"Up to fifteen, twenty minutes ago, Guyunis wasn't here. Hazaar came in at around noon." TazirVile gave his wife the scoop on when some of her sons returned home. "Eshal only just got in when Hazaar returned."

"Oh, Eshal went out on her own?" Angel asked.

"Gave her some money to blow after Lhaklar, Guyunis, she, and I reached the community center." TazirVile replied. "You know how teenage girls are—once that money's in their hand, they run and they don't look back or give in to consideration about waiting for others."

"True," Angel said. She started up the stairs; her husband followed behind her almost like a shadow.

"Don't suppose you or any of the boys made any orders by catalog recently?" TazirVile asked after they reached the second floor's hallway.

"Mmmm, yes. Thanks for reminding me—I _did_ place an order for something a few weeks ago." Angel answered.

"A van pulled in the drive at around the same time that Guyunis got in; he signed the paper that the man showed him then brought in two boxes."

"You know where he put them?"

"All I know is he brought them up here. If they're not in your room, they're in his."

Her efforts in finding anything by Airbourne, the old, Australian band that Bile and Guyunis seemed to be rather fond of, were for nothing. None of the stores that she went into had anything by them on their shelves, so she was forced to go to the local library—she used a computer to make an online purchase. While it took her a while to figure out the machine, and while she needed some help in figuring out how to actually do an online purchase, she was successful in finding and then purchasing four of the band's eight albums. After making that purchase, she made the decision to do an online search for items that Guyunis would like. Her adopted son's birthday was coming up... She didn't just want to buy him something that wasn't his style, or that he'd use or have an interest in maybe once or twice. Around €200 was spent on that boy for his birthday; she had a feeling that he was going to flip after seeing what she found and then ordered for him.

With the exception of the Airbourne CD's, she had plans to just hide everything that came in the mail until Guyunis's birthday—he'd get all of what she ordered for him on the twenty-seventh of that month.

She was relieved to see that the two boxes, that came in the mail today, were in her room. They were resting rather comfortably on her bed. Other than their being upside down, neither were opened. She opened the smaller one, removed the four Airbourne CD's, then sent the rest of its contents to her family's underground storage. She only opened the longer box to see if everything that should be inside was inside; after seeing that the rest of what she ordered was where it was suppose to be, she sent the box to the same place that the other one was sent to. With them two matters squared away, she set to donning a more comfortable set of clothing.

"And what do you think you're doing, Mr. Surfeit?" she asked. At the time of her closing her bedroom door, there was no one in the room with her. Tazir had either used a form of his Time Warp ability to get in or he took advantage of her checking out the boxes' contents to hide himself.

"Getting ready to watch my wife undress." her husband, who was seated on her bed, replied. "I've been a very excellently behaved man today—think I deserve a little strip tease."

"If that's true then you'll be awarded it tonight when we go to bed." she said. She opened the door then gestured for him to leave. While her husband grumbled over the loss of seeing her undress, he obeyed her in leaving the room.

She did what she needed to do in her bedroom quickly then left, with the pure intention of going down to see what was needed for the pantry. She was quick in discovering that this wasn't to be done so quickly—Eshal grabbed her attention right after she left her bedroom; she found herself as being dragged to her adopted daughter's room where, for the next thirty minutes, she was treated to being a sort of spectator. Along with listening to Eshal talk of her shopping trip in the community center, she looked at the items that she showed her. Her adopted daughter showed her almost all of what she got with the money that her father gave her to spend.

Eshal was a very girly-type person, so she wasn't but so surprised over seeing or hearing that she spent around two hundred euros on dresses, blouses, slacks or other feminine bottom-wear, and shoes. Eshal had also gotten herself a few discs of music—like any other teenage child, she knew how to work the machine that one used to get a sample of the music that they weren't sure of—and a purse. Most of what her daughter got for herself was jewelry-based; around four necklaces, five bracelets, and three rings were purchased from the community center. Eshal admitted to spending the final bit of what she was given to shop with on lunch; a hamburger, and some fries, were purchased and then consumed before she, and her many shopping bags, went home. No issues were encountered on Eshal's end during her shopping trip; Angel was glad for this. Her daughter couldn't just remain in the house for the entire six months that they were slated to be on Earth; she did need to spread her wings and venture out to be her age.

After spending thirty minutes with Eshal, Angel went downstairs to see about the cabinet and refrigerator situation. It took her around twenty minutes to list everything that was needed for the house. Supper looked to be squared away; it seemed that Hazaar's hunt was marvelously successful. After listing the items that were needed for the cabinets and refrigerator, she went into the living room, where she found her husband, who looked to be quite preoccupied with the bundle of letters that were on his lap.

"Had enough of the news and soaps?" she asked after sitting beside him. There was a sleek, gloss black, flip-top video player on the coffee table; the small stack of discs, that were beside it, looked to contain family-run footage on them.

"Yep." TazirVile replied. "It's going to be a long, boring six months if there's nothing for me to do other than watch the news and soaps that're aired on the channels."

"Quite wise of you to head home for some things that'll keep you preoccupied during our six months here." she said.

"Yep." her husband said. The bundle of letters, that he was preoccupied with, must be very important; with the detection of his giving her the cold shoulder, and his looking so "busy" with the letters that were on his lap, being noted, she stood then left the room. She started plans for that night's meal right after entering the kitchen.


	14. Chapter 14

While she could of done the grocery shopping on her own, and left her family at home, and let them continue as they were, she decided to bring everyone along. Everything went well during breakfast, and looked to be going well when she both shoved off for work and then came home; seeing as everyone was in good spirits, and no bad events occurred during her absence, she piddled around in both downing her work clothes and unwinding from her day. Once them things were done, she collected her purse then gave out the order for everyone to get their stuff together then check the house for unlocked doors and windows. Once the house was all locked up, and everyone was ready to go, she went to the two cars that were under the carport.

"Eshal, I want you with me. Guyunis and Lazeer, you too. Tazir, I want you with Lhaklar, Bile, and Hazaar." Angel said after reaching the carport, then had the keys to her car in her hand.

"Sure," TazirVile said. Like she expected, he came towards her then held his hand out. She gave him a smile then gestured at Lhaklar, who had since unlocked the driver's side door of his and his brothers' BMW.

"The keys aren't on me for that car." she said. "Nor am I or you to be driving it."

She unlocked her car then got in. Eshal slid into the seat opposite her while Lazeer sat in the seat that was behind hers. Guyunis was fast in claiming the seat that was behind the one that was designated for the driver. Before sliding the key into the ignition, she watched her husband's stance—would he give Lhaklar grief over his driving the car that he and his brothers owned or would he just get in then watch as their oldest born child drove? Eshal, she knew, was nervous—the poor dear became very stiff after hearing that her father wasn't to drive the BMW, and after seeing that Lhaklar was getting into the drive's seat. While she wouldn't mind teaching Eshal how to drive, she didn't want to step on Tazir's toes by doing so.

The boys were well ahead of others who were their age. Tazir had made note of this last night, after they sat for supper, and he said it again about ten minutes in on the meal. While it was illegal for one of her sons' age to drive a car, and while it was highly recommended that no child of her sons' age be allowed to hunt, or do any type of outdoors-y activities without having an adult being there to supervise them, she was sure that they were fine and that Tazir knew better than to contradict the lessons that she gave them on how to drive a car and conduct a safe hunt. Her children, Eshal included, were a smart bunch and knew the right's and wrong's of things—though it was thought of last night, after Tazir and she went to bed, about the boys not being allowed to continue their hunting and driving habits after the move to Moas was done, she had assured herself that the boys might sway their father to allow them to do them things after he saw them doing them.

"Good man," Angel thought after her husband got into the front passenger seat of the vehicle that Lhaklar was about to drive.

He'd be a liar if he went around saying that he didn't give his wife a good, long look after she said that neither he nor she would be driving the vehicle that she said for him, Lhaklar, Bile, and Hazaar to get in. His mind was temporarily blind-sided after she said that—if not either of them then who was to drive the car, or get them to the destination that she wanted to take them to? He got his answer after she gestured at Lhaklar, who had one of the BMW's doors open and was getting in the car. Instead of rushing forward to pull Lhaklar from the seat that he took, and then take his place, or take the keys then go back to the house, he stood by the car—his wife, his daughter, Guyunis, and Lazeer had already gotten in the other car; with his standing idly by the BMW, he was putting the trip to a halt... but for a good reason, though.

Lhaklar, who was born on March 8, 1999, had no license or learner's permit and he shouldn't know how to drive. He still had his oldest-born son's license, so that, in itself, should prevent him from driving... Or so he thought. Lhaklar would be in a lot of trouble if he took to the wheel—were the laws the same here when it came to one being behind the wheel? Was a license, or learner's permit, needed to be on one's person when one was behind the wheel or was one issued and then logged somewhere—if the latter was allowed, did the driver of a vehicle need to have their license or learner's permit on them every time they drove? How about the vehicle's registration—was that also needed to be on one's person whenever they drove a car or was it not neccessary to have it when a car was being driven?

The vehicle, that he stood idly by, and that his son slid into the driver's seat of, had see-through sides, which enabled him to see its dark blue interior. The top had a sunroof on it, and the body was low to the ground. The wheels were normal in size, and had normal rims and hubcaps on them. The non-transparent parts of the car were the same color as its interior. When he decided to round it, then get into the front passenger seat, he saw that the license plate, that was on the front bumper, said DaBoyz5.

Unlike the vehicles that he owned and drove, and that most in his family owned and drove, this one's driver's seat wasn't located on its left side—like with around ten percent of the vehicles that were manufactured, and then sold and driven by the population that was in the known Universe, this one's driver's seat was located on its other side. After sliding into the seat opposite his son, then closing the door, then swinging the belt around himself, he glanced at his son. His wife, at the time that he was getting in the car, had started her own car up; she was now backing down the driveway.

"He'll need help in keeping the car leveled—so it won't hit anything while its being backed up—, and he'll need help in how much to turn the wheel after its been backed down the driveway." he thought after his son pushed the key into the ignition then started the car up.

The tension, that he felt, was there for only a second before dissipating—Lhaklar, his oldest born son, and "chip off the old block", backed the car down the driveway then turned it to the side, so it'd look away from the driveway, just fine. Like with the shock felt from his son's successful exit of the driveway, he was shocked after seeing that his son was applying the appropriate amount of pressure to the gas pedal and was keeping the wheel balanced. Even when his son made a turn, or increased the speed of the vessel that they were in, he kept control of the wheel and didn't apply but too much pressure to the pedal that needed to be worked to keep the vehicle moving.

It wasn't until two to three minutes after they left the driveway, and started on their way to wherever his wife wanted to take them to, that conversation started.

"Let's be glad for the BMW—there's no way in hell that all eight of us would of fit in ma's Porsche." Bile, who was seated behind Lhaklar, said.

"Agree. While I enjoy a family outing, I prefer for some wiggle room while on the way to our destination." Lhaklar said.

"No claustrophobia for me—that's a good thing." Hazaar said.

"Ditto!" Bile and Lhaklar said in unison.

The boys spoke for the next five minutes. Topics on what they did today, which he hoped were appropriate for children of their age, were discussed before they spoke of what they were hoping to do tomorrow. While they spoke, he thought about the one animal that Hazaar nabbed yesterday.

While Hazaar caught the animal, and did the work in cultivating it, he didn't do anything in cooking it. That was done by Angel, who didn't seem to have an issue in doing that chore. What shocked him the most, besides Hazaar going out to hunt, then coming home with something from said hunt, and being unscathed from it, was the fact that Angel served him and the boys the organs from the bigger of the two animals that their son brought back. Bile and Lhaklar shared the heart, while Hazaar and he "haggled" over the liver. Guyunis and Lazeer concerned themselves with the kidneys, which no one else seemed to want to have, while Eshal refused to eat any of the organs that were put on the table. Angel skipped on eating the organs; she let him and the boys have them. After eating the organs, he and the boys put a slab of meat on their plates then ate that, along with the potatoes and green beans that were also on their plates, before leaning back and declaring themselves as "full".

After the main course was eaten, something that his wife called a "Pudding Cake" was put on the table—he and the boys forgot about how "full" they were after seeing it. They had two slices before leaning back then saying that they were stuffed to the core. Angel and Eshal had an equal share of the cake; from what he could tell, his daughter really liked its flavor and design.

Once supper was eaten, and everyone was dismissed to do as they wanted for the evening, Hazaar went to the attic. He, who wanted to see what he was doing, followed about five minutes later. To his extreme shock, he saw that his son was dealing with the deer-like animal's pelt. The pelt was stretched between two of the attic beams; his son used one of his powers to blow a heated breeze on it to make the skin underneath the fur dry. After scraping the top layer of skin away, his son left the attic for some salt, which he sprinkled over the pelt's underside. That morning, after breakfast was consumed, and his wife left for work, he went up to inspect the pelt—the skin was perfectly dry, and intact, and the fur was just as fine as could be; his son did a marvelous job in preserving it. The deer-like animal's head, and the smaller animal that his son caught yesterday, were on Moas, being worked on by someone who he did business with whenever he came back from one of his hunts with something that he wanted to keep as a trophy. Hazaar already knew that he'd find both in the chamber that was beside his own.

"Might not of been "allowed" to watch her undress after she came in yesterday, but I was allowed to do so when the word was given for everyone to go to bed." he thought.

The time for everyone to go to bed was between 10:20 and 10:45; unlike the last week, where he slept in the room that came off the basement, he was allowed to sleep in his wife's room. After donning his PJ's, then watching his wife undress, then don a purple cotton nightgown, he and she slid under the covers. Unlike the previous month, where he just slept beside her, and relished in the chance to have her close to him, and being allowed to cuddle with her, they engaged in a few activities before deciding to go to sleep. The last time they had sex was in January of last year... If not for their decision to stop their activities, and go to sleep, they would of had sex last night. While their activities were a shock to indulge in, and while it was a shock that it was his wife who started their session off, he knew better than to grumble or get mad over the decision to not go the whole way. In time, he thought. When the time was right, they would have sex.

He wasn't to go but so crazy after they started having sex again. Last year, it was he who decided to don a condom; he'd use another when the chance came around for them to resume that activity in married life. While he'd love to add more children to his family, and give his already present sons and daughter siblings to be driven crazy by, the time was just not now. Let things die down, and let everyone grow more use to one another, and let the move to Moas be done, and let them be living on Moas for a while, and speak to his wife on the issue before the decision to grow their family was made.

"Take it that, on this planet, one doesn't need to have a driver's license, or learner's permit, on them when they're driving?" TazirVile said after the boys stopped talking among themselves.

"It's very recommended that a driver's license, or learner's permit, be on the driver when they're behind the wheel. Same goes for the vehicle's registration." Lhaklar replied.

"Got both?" TazirVile asked.

"The registration's in the glove compartment, where it's been since the car's been bought, and the license is in my wallet."

"Get a new one after the old one was left in my ship, or did you have an extra lying around?"

"Got a new one made, plus a new photo I.D."

"Take it that you also got a new driver's license made, Hazaar?" he asked his secondborn.

That was a no. After being rescued from the clutches of his mother's blasted father, he was taken to his father's ship for a while; when he escaped the ship, he was both sore and lacking both his driver's license, which was only just issued to him after the three years on his learner's permit lapsed, and the set of keys to the BMW. It was only his action of hot-wiring the car that he got it to work, and it was only by the actions of a patrolman, who was just driving by, that he was able to get home. During the process of hot-wiring the car, he found himself surrounded on four sides by his father, grandfather, Homsi Modulavich, and Eldass Zultoa—the latter two being employees of his father's. Since Homsi was standing by the front left bumper, and wouldn't let him pass, he bumped the car's front end into him in an attempt to make him back off and give him driving space—that sure pissed the man off!

While he and Mr. Modulavich had made up for what happened, and while Mr. Modulavich gave him a warning that, on the next occasion, he wouldn't be let "off the hook" so easily, he really saw no fault on his behalf on what happened. The man was preventing him from going home, and he wanted to go home, and he was a hysterical mess at the time; if something similar to that event happened again, he'd have to problem in duplicating it.

The events that happened on April 17 had kept him up for hours. Like Guyunis, he was nervous over having his father around and in the same building as he. Despite that "intervention" happening with the neighbors and Mr. Leinart, he still didn't trust the man and, honestly, he wouldn't start trusting him until he was sure that he was changed in how he regarded how he and his brothers lived their lives. While the main intention in going out to hunt was to do a hobby that he was previously forced to abandon because of his hip, he also wanted to test his father—to see if he'd snap his head off, or get on his mother for giving him permission to do so, or grow alarmed over his being allowed to do a hunt, or insist on tagging along so to "keep an eye on him". As far as he was concerned, his father had passed the test—if a grade had to be given, it'd be a very low B, seeing as the man did snap his head up after permission was granted to him, and seemed to be relieved over his returning home alive and in one piece, and that he stuck around to watch him square away the two animals that he brought home.

He was just thinking about his not yet going out to get the usual stuff that he got each month, and about his sister getting on his nerves last night after he took a shower, then got up from his nap, and then during supper, when his father asked him about his getting a replacement driver's license.

"No." Hazaar answered his father's question. "Too much shit going on for me to do so."

"W..." judging by the reflection that was in the rear view mirror, he could tell that his father was biting his tongue. After the man's tongue was "bit", he reached into his blue tuxedo jacket; he rummaged around for a second, then took something out, then fumbled around with it for a few seconds before turning to look at him. "Be careful, please."

His license was returned to him then something was placed on Lhaklar's lap before the man returned to fooling around with the inside of his jacket. Judging by how Lhaklar said thanks, then shifted his weight in the seat that he was in, he had a feeling that his old driver's license was also returned to him. Except for his brother's false I.D., which looked very similar to his actual one, except for the fact of it having March 8, 4077 on it as the year of birth instead of the actual year that he was born in, everything that was "confiscated" from both his and his brother's persons was returned to them.

After having his license returned to him, then sliding it back to where it was suppose to be, he and his brothers were questioned on something else. Since Guyunis and Lazeer weren't in the car to be apart of the conversation, they spoke on their behalfs.

"After ma got her job at U-Krop-It, she asked Guyunis to withdraw four thousand euros from the money that he had; after getting it, she gave it to Lhaklar then told us to put our plans on-hold until after we go to the nearest car dealership then buy a car." Bile started to explain. The question presented to them was simple: how did the funds come about for the car and who bought the car that they owned?

"Guyunis was the one who found it, while Bile and Lhaklar did the paperwork for it." Hazaar said. "All me, Guyunis, and Lazeer did after that paperwork was given to them was be bored off our asses—we did nothing but look over Bile and Lhaklar's shoulders while they did it."

"I was the one who paid for it." Lhaklar added.

"Say what? How in blue blazes did Guyunis have that much money on him?" it seemed that their father was more interested in this detail—this was mostly true; while he took all of what they told him in, he was more focused on how one of Guyunis's age could come up or have so much money on them.

Bile answered the question presented to them on how Guyunis had four thousand euros on him—while Hazaar only cursed to test the old man on how changed he was in regards to what came from his mouth, he cursed out of anger. In reality, Guyunis had a lot more than four thousand euros on him—with his taking specific jewelry items from Lenora Falkenrath, the woman who tortured him for twenty years, and use to be his adopted mother, and then selling them, he acquired €10,000. Lenora and her husband, Mathis Meyer Jr., had used and treated him like a house keeper or servant more than an adopted son, and they, like their ancestors, had also abused him; his adoptive brother had only taken the jewelry as a sort of payment for his "services", and as a reparation for their treatment of him. Guyunis had tried on more than one occasion to give all of what he had on him to their mother, who, except for when the subject of a down payment and deposit needing to be gained for the "apartment" that they were supposedly suppose to move into last year came up, refused to take it. All of what Guyunis had in revenue was either used by him or distributed between him and them in the months following their move into the house; Guyunis, despite getting a little too excited from time to time, was a good Little Brother who tried to stay out of trouble and keep everyone involved and happy in things. He was more than glad to have him as a member of his family and in knowing that he was to never be separated from them again.

"I can see point in his doing that—seeing as I've seen the history that's on his adoption forms, I can understand and accept why he did that." TazirVile said after being told what he was. It was quiet in the car for all of three minutes before he asked, "He ever seen his mother?"

"In a way, yes and no." Bile answered. "Whenever she came to take him from ma and us, he did see her but, due to her wearing a sort of scarf or something over her head, he wasn't able to see any of her features. He was given a verbal explanation on how she looked when he was younger but it wasn't until recently that he was shown a picture of her."

"He has no interest in seeing or spending any time with her, and he doesn't want to get to know her." Hazaar said. "Think he feels pretty mutual on how she feels on the subject of his being around."

"She was real rough with him when she came to claim and then send him back to the orphanage. She'd either talk real nice or get real raving mad at ma whenever she found that he was with her. The last time she came to reclaim and then return him to the orphanage, she practically dragged him from us... she turned a fuckin' blind eye to ma's words on wanting to adopt him, and she also grabbed him by his hair and threw him a few times to get him going." Bile said.

As a child, she was no less rough with him; Bile and Lhaklar both explained how rough Guyunis's real mother was with him when he was in his four and nine hundreds and they also explained how, on each removal from their care, he cried and pled with her to leave him be. For TazirVile, this set off a major dislike in him—for a grown woman to remove a child that she doesn't want from a household that was giving him love and care, and for a grown woman to grab and then throw her unwanted child after removing him from said home, was wrong on so many fronts. He thought back to the treatment that his grandfather gave the boy, and to how he reacted to his being discovered as his father, before making a disgusted face then turning to look out the window.

The rest of the drive was both quickly done and silent. When they pulled up before a store, which had a sign on it that proclaimed it as being Aldi's Market, he had regained most of his composure, and figured some of the trip's intended purpose out. Once the cars were parked, and the ones that were in them were out, they went towards the building then waited for instruction. Rather surprisingly, Angel said for Bile to grab a cart then take Eshal shopping; Lhaklar was told to take Hazaar while Guyunis was told to take Lazeer. He automatically claimed his wife after the boys, and his daughter, left to do as they were told.

Angel grabbed a cart from the area that looked to be designated for that piece of equipment then moved along; he followed at her side without being told to. While on the way through the aisles, he asked her for a few more specifics on Guyunis—while getting the answers to his questions, he helped in the shopping.

"Some of the people that had him over the years didn't treat him badly right from the onslaught of his adoption—a select few did treat him well... for a few years, that is, before either abandoning or abusing him." his wife said after they stopped then started putting things that were needed for the fridge and pantry in the cart.

"Who were they?" he asked.

"Klaus and Agatha Ackermann—he was in the orphanage for only two months before they adopted him; they gave him some love and care for a few years before dropping him. Leon Patel and his wife, Nadja—it was much the same with them. And Leon and Nadja's daughter, Eugenia—she showed him some love and care for about five years after her parents died and he was inherited by her; after she married her husband, she stopped doing that."

"Know why they did that?"

"Yeah. With his not growing or maturing like a human child, they just gave up on him."

"How old was he when he was with them folk?"

"A newborn when Klaus and Agatha had him, four hundred and seventy-three when Leon and Nadja had him, and five hundred and twenty-seven when their daughter and son-in-law had him."

"Everyone else either abused or used him, right?" while astonished over what he was hearing, he retained his feelings on the subject—he was in a public building, after all. To express how he felt wouldn't look good on the news.

"Uh-huh. Either abused or used him as a sort of housekeeper or servant." his wife replied.

While helping his wife pick out packs of meat, then certain items for the fridge's freezer compartment, he remembered all of what was written on Guyunis's adoption forms—his wife made a total of five when he and the entire family were in her home on the seventeenth of April; of them five copies, only two were picked up then read. He and Kuruk were the only ones to take in the boy's history, but they spoke of what they were reading so everyone was able to get an idea of what Guyunis went through before being formerly adopted by his wife.

Klaus and Agatha Ackermann, who his wife described as being a young, German couple, had Guyunis for all of eighty-seven years. The history on Guyunis's forms said that Agatha only fed or cleaned him when she absolutely had to; Klaus did absolutely nothing for him. Their daughter—who his wife described as being their only birthed child and a surprise for them—, Edda, and her husband, Manfred Adenauer, inherited him; the records said that they did the same thing during their seventy-six years of having him. Their daughter, Magda Adenauer, and her new husband, Axel Beckert, were "awarded" Guyunis's care after they died; the care provided to Guyunis was a little different than with Klaus and Agatha and Edda and Manfred. According to the forms, Magda and Axel fed him nothing but scraps, or spoiled food, and forced him to sleep in the closet, either on or in a small dog bed. The boy was also given nothing but rags to wear. A side-note on Guyunis's history for them claimed that Magda, much like her own mother, placed blame on Guyunis for her parents having children so late in their life—the same note said that Magda had four boys and two girls, and that Guyunis was forced to live in their shadows. Instead of naming the boy, they just called him That Kid, The Demon, or Demon Child. Magda and Axel had Guyunis for sixty-five years—a note on the adoption forms said that cancer claimed them. After they died, Guyunis was "inherited" by their oldest son, Augustus, and his fairly new fiancée, who, he presumed, became his wife, Brigitte Egger.

The history on them two was a little different than Magda and Axel's—while he was given nothing but scraps, or spoiled food, to eat, and while he was also forced to sleep in one of the house's closets, and while he was also thrown nothing but rags to wear, he was also thrown outside whenever he cried or grew ill. Brigitte was also on record for slapping him one day when she found that he was both "out of his designated area" and in her son's room, playing with his toys and "having a blast while doing so". Augustus and Brigitte had him for eighty years then, after they died, their daughter, Estelle, inherited him.

"Instead of treating him right, or giving a care for him, she threw him in a shed then mostly forgot about him." he thought. "It was her husband, Konrad Feldt, who took to doing the chore of giving him food and certain, small things that he could use to dress or keep himself warm with."

The records said that, after Estelle and Konrad died, the adoption agency that handled Guyunis's adoptions tried to return him to his mother. Estelle and Konrad had him for a total of sixty-three years. Instead of his mother taking him in, or accepting that she made a mistake then trying to make up for it, Angel took him in. He was three hundred and seventy-three when that happened. His wife had him for a hundred years before the one who was responsible for carrying and giving birth to him took him away then stuck him back in the orphanage.

Leon and Nadja Patel took him on about five months after he was returned to the orphanage. A note on his records said that they forced him to live behind some boxes in their basement, and that Nadja only threw him food and drink once a day and would only tend him when he got so fussy that she couldn't sleep. They had him for fifty-four years—cancer was said to be the thing that claimed them. Their daughter, Eugenia, and her husband, Norbert, forced Guyunis to live in the smaller of their house's bathrooms; he was only given a very ripped up, baggy blue t-shirt to wear. After ninety years, Guyunis was inherited by their son, Dominik—Angel claimed that the man's wife, Else Gagnon, was very dominating and that she instructed her husband to build a small, 5x7 area in the attic for him to "live" in. This information was listed on the boy's records, so he got a confirmation on this happening. Guyunis had nothing but a small mattress in the area that he was to "live" in; the area had no bathroom in it. Dominik and Else locked the boy in that room, and only fed him what wasn't eaten by the family two to three times a day, and they were also on record for being verbally and physically abusive to him. Else was on record for slapping Guyunis for his simply crying out, and voicing the fact that his stomach hurt, or that he wasn't feeling well, and her husband was on record for punching him once or twice a day for simply making noise when he came up to clean the area that he was forced to reside in.

Dominik and Else didn't have any children of their own so, when they died eighty-seven years after inheriting Guyunis, Dominik's cousin, Elizabeth Henchman, and her husband, Johnathan Wilson, were given the chore of looking after him. They did much the same to him; they had him for a total of seventy-eight years before passing away and then leaving him with no one to inherit him. Another case of the adoption agency that handled Guyunis's adoptions was on record for their trying to return him to his mother, which didn't go as well as they had hoped it would; Angel was listed as taking Guyunis in right after that attempt failed. She took him in when he was seven hundred and eighty-two, and he was "mother"-snatched two hundred years later; it was on file that he spent all of a year in the orphanage before being adopted by a couple by the name of Gretchen and Michael Ebner, who had him for forty-five years before perishing in a natural disaster. These two sorry saps had only used the boy as a common butler or handyman, and they also forced him to sleep in the far corner of a cold and damp basement.

Their daughter, Helga Ebner, and her husband, Ernest Eckstein, inherited him after Gretchen and Michael died—things weren't much different with them than with Gretchen and Michael. From what the records claimed, Ernest was a right mean man who seemed to take great interest and pleasure out of hurting others. Along with being beat with sticks and belts, Guyunis was forced into being a sort of servant for them—whenever he wasn't working, he was forced to stay in the attic. Helga and Ernest had Guyunis for all of thirty-two years before dying in a plague; a couple by the name of Ulla Durst and Falco Durr received him after they kicked the bucket. Mr. and Mrs. Durr had Guyunis for all of forty-one years—instead of dying, and then passing him off as a sort of inheritance to one of their relatives, Guyunis ran away; with what was on file for him with this couple, he was glad that he did. A note on the boy's records said that Guyunis ran away to Canada and, somehow, found the apartment that his wife and sons were staying in. Angel took him in for four hundred and twenty years—he was eleven hundred years old when she took him in and he was one thousand, five hundred, and twenty when he was removed from her care.

"A few years ago, when I got my hands on your résumé, your résumé mentioned that you did specific movies for revenue for "a young ward"... was Guyunis that ward?" he asked.

"Yes. Sent him to Pronghorn—he did the standard two hundred years there—and then to Goboshu's Academy of Meanness. He spent two hundred and twenty years there."

"Got his school records on you?"

"Course. He was a very good pupil at both schools, and was a big participant in track and several clubs."

His wife claimed that Guyunis was removed from her care almost immediately after graduating from Goboshu's Academy of Meanness—the sleaze who birthed him caught wind of his being in her care and she came to both reclaim and then stick him back in the orphanage. Even though his wife expressed a desire in wanting to adopt him, the woman wouldn't hear a word of it or allow for it to happen. A couple by the name of Lulu and Randolf Meyer adopted him sometime after he was returned to the orpahange; for the next three hundred and eighty years, he was passed from one generation of Meyer's to the next until, finally, being adopted by his wife.

In order to adopt Guyunis, Angel claimed that she had to go to his mother. She approached the woman then set it on the line about her both adopting her son and that she wasn't going to stop or prevent it from happening. Angel also claimed that she told Lisa that she was a rotten parent and a horrible person for allowing the events that happened in her son's life to happen. The paperwork was done on September 1, 4099, about four days after he and his family settled on Earth then started having encounters with a formerly thought-to-be-deceased Bile and Lhaklar, and it was finalized, approved, and then, for reasons that Angel didn't know, sent to the home of Mathis Meyer Jr. and Lenora Falkenrath on December 4, 4099.

"Course, don't need to ask why you didn't just go and retrieve him then bring him back to Moas." he said. Their shopping was nearly done; they had spoken the entire time about Guyunis and his history. "With the family "at-arms" with you and the boys, and with you and the boys being as stressed as you were about the party that was beseiging you—"

"Which was Guyunis. He was trying to get in contact with us for a while and we never connected the dots until a letter was found." Angel interrupted him.

"Letter? What letter?"

"Found a white envelope in your office—in your wastebasket on the twenty-seventh of January. I took it out, opened it, then read it; I about had a heart attack after seeing who it was that sent it."

He remembered the envelope that she was talking about. It was white and, except for having her name on it, it had no address or stamp on it. Abevo Speelin, one of his employees, who was asked to get his wife, who was experiencing something akin to a migraine, some headache medicine, had taken both it and the bottle of Cranial X-Away from the room that they slept in. While he let the Goblin take the medicine to his wife, he confiscated and then threw the envelope away—under the pretext of his not knowing who it came from, or if it contained any harmful substances on or in it. While miffed over hearing that his wife searched his office, then took and opened an envelope that wasn't properly addressed or stamped for her, he knew that her actions were appropriately done. If not for her retrieving and then reading the contents that were in that envelope, and then going to Earth, she wouldn't have Guyunis now.

"Who reversed the effects of the Jaboa that you consumed?" he asked. Along with making and then giving her the edible potion that'd prevent her from teleporting anywhere, he stood over her shoulder and prodded her into consuming it; this was done after... Guyunis choked her in an attempt to remove the amulet that she made, and that Trobrencus strengthened the effects on by performing a spell and then praying over it, and then put on. That amulet, he remembered, was only made after Bushon Bedali, his nephew-in-law, was phoned and then questioned on probable dark entity possession—Mr. Bedali gave her the suggestion of making five of them and she followed through with it, which broke the bond and connection that one needed in order for magic-done contact to be done.

"Lhaklar. Told him to read up on how to make the reversal, then told him to find your potions room; he had no issue in doing both." his wife responded.

In all, it took around thirty minutes for the trip to be completed and for the four carts to be pushed up to one of the building's available cash registers. By the time the carts were by the register of choice, he decided to dig his wallet out from where it was then relieve his wife of the trouble in paying for what was purchased—there was a lot in the carts, and his wife had made a move in using her communicator to tell the boys, and Eshal, to get what they wanted, and to not worry about what the bill was going to be, after all.

Except for two hiccups, the trip through the aisle, and the act of his paying for what was in the carts, went well. The woman that was manning the register stopped his wife to ask her a bunch of questions—along with asking a few on him, she stared at him all the while she was asking his wife the questions that pertained to him. Lhaklar, rather surprisingly, was more interested in flirting than putting what was in his and Hazaar's cart on the register's belt; both he, his wife, and Hazaar snapped at him to quit it and to help out after he held the line up for five minutes following the food's purchase. Bile and Eshal, and Guyunis and Lazeer, had no issues in going through the register; after everything was paid for, then bagged and pushed out to the two cars, his wife surprised both he and Eshal by saying for everything to be put on the ground. Once the groceries were on the ground, she swung her arms—she used a form of her Elemental powers to flip the ground, and make what was purchased disappear; when the food was gone from where it was formerly placed on, she turned then said that she'd do a repeat of what she did when they got home.

After the food was safely secure in whatever location it was sent to, he and his family got into the cars then started on the way home. Though a camera flash was seen, and a human with a camera was seen, he paid no mind to them two things; after getting into the BMW—Eshal and Lazeer had swapped places with Bile and Hazaar, but Lhaklar had made the decision to retain his possession of the keys, and of the "honor" to drive the vehicle—, he turned to look at his oldest born son. The act of his flirting with that woman, who looked to be in her early adult years, did need to be addressed.

"Trying to prove something with that girl at the register, or are you showing that you're a bit of a Casanova?" he asked his son.

"Neither—t'was done in good fun." Lhaklar replied.

"Think that, when you get him back on Moas, daddy, you'll need to keep all the girls, both adult and in their teen years, away from him." Eshal, who was greatly embarrassed by her brother's actions in the store, said. "Flirting at his age isn't right."

"I'm willing to bet that you've dropped the flirts on someone over the years." Lhaklar said. "I'm a teenager and its perfectly natural for us to flirt with the gender that we have an interest in."

"No its not! And no, I've not once dropped any flirtatious actions or words on the opposite gender since becoming a teenager. Flirting's best to be left to the adults; us kids aren't suppose to do any of that stuff. It's rude, and it gives off a bad image."

"It is not. Flirting is another form of socializing." Lhaklar fought the urge to sigh—first, his sister annoyed Hazaar last night and now she was annoying him today, what next?

"Flirting leads to adult actions, which we're not allowed to do until we've reached the appropriate age to do so." Eshal said.

"Ever pick up a dictionary? It clearly says that flirting is an act of behaving as though attracted to or trying to attract someone, but for amusement rather than with serious intentions. The act of flirting is used all around for socializing purposes, and not all the time for the—"

"What dictionary are you quoting? That's not in any dictionary, and that's not what 'flirting' means."

"The same dictionary that you need to pick up." Lhaklar came close to saying. Instead of saying that, he said this, "Think someone needs to lighten up, and spend some time out with others. It might help you in figuring out the socializing g—"

"I know how to socialize, and I'm not hanging around anyone who flirts or does whatever you and your friends do whenever you're around one another." Eshal snapped.

"Eshal, Lhaklar, that's enough." TazirVile said. He said for the rest of the drive to be a quiet one, which his three present children decided to do.


	15. Chapter 15

_"For the second time tonight, will you turn that junk down!"_

 _He stiffened in his chair after the voice was heard. While he knew who it was that entered his room, he hadn't expected to see or hear her come into his room. This was the third time that day that he had heard her use this type of voice—the one where she was trying to sound like a woman, and his mother. The first time, he was coming from the bathroom after taking a shower; a towel was around himself yet she still scoffed at him for "walking around exposed". The second time, he just woke up from his nap. It was an accident in letting it out but she still got on him for both breaking wind and being "rude" while doing so. Now, just thirty minutes after supper was consumed, and the pelt that he kept from one of his kills was all squared away, she was coming in to tell him to turn his music down._

 _The album by Robert Matthew Van Winkle, aka Vanilla Ice, wasn't on that loud. His stereo was on level four, which was one of the lower levels on the system, so his sister shouldn't be all that bothered by what he was playing. She shouldn't be bothered by it period—instead of barging into his room, and getting on his music interests, like she was doing for the last few weeks, she should knock and then get his attention before coming in. She should also accept that he had a different music interest than hers and that he was going to listen to it when the chance presented itself to him. To the Extreme, an album that was created in 1989, and that was Vanilla Ice's most successful album during his music career, happened to be one of his favorite albums and he had a desire in wanting to listen to it while building the model of a Japanese steam engine locomotive C62, which one of his brothers surprised him with earlier. It looked like he wasn't to build his model while enjoying his music at the same tim. After Eshal said what she did, he placed his brush in the jar then turned to address her._

 _"Haven't you heard of knocking before entering?" he asked._

 _"Have you ever heard of turning that junk down so others can think, or do things that they want to do without getting a headache?" she counter-asked._

 _"My stereo's on level four; you shouldn't be that badly effected by what's playing."_

 _"Even if it wasn't on that level I'd still be effected—what you're listening to is nothing but noise, and its going to rot you if you continue to listen to it."_

 _"Least its better than the crap that you was listenin' to earlier." it just popped out without check or worry; just after his nap was concluded, Eshal started listening to some music by some artist named Alicia Keys, who, though hot, didn't have that grand a sound to her. He and two of his brothers were driven up a wall and back by what she was listening to—even though they didn't like her music, and were annoyed with hearing it, neither he nor Bile or Guyunis had bothered her on it. They gave her the respect and privacy that she needed to listen to her crap... why the hell couldn't she do the same with him?_

 _"You can hear what the artists that I listen to are saying; the lyrics by the people that you listen to can't be heard because its nothing but bass and drum. Your music is very unbalanced while mine isn't." she came back._

 _"You jealous or something?" he asked._

 _"No, I want you to turn that down so I can use my cellular."_

 _"You can still use your cellular with my "junk" being played at the level that it's being played at." he said before turning to resume working on his model._

Unlike the last two times—on the evening of June 9, and during the afternoon of the following day—, where she came in to tell him to turn his "junk" down, or off, then ran off to bitch at either the old man or his mother about how "loud" his music was, she rushed into his room that mid-morning then grabbed and twisted the volume knob on his stereo down. In the process of turning his music down, she tore the knob from the system. What was he doing at the time? Building the armored train engine that he bought on the tenth, and thinking about how good it, and the three cars that he purchased to go with it, would look in his room in the process. The model of a Japanese steam engine locomotive was already done and put on one of his room's shelves; at the time of his sister's rude entrance to his room, he was looking forward to giving it a friend, and also seeing what the old man would do or say after he decided to wander up for a looksee of his room—unlike the armored train engine, which would be painted a camo-green color, the Japanese steam engine was black and gold... It really did look snazzy on the shelf that it was on!

Eshal, instead of being apologetic over breaking his system, and knocking some of the things from the shelf that they were on to the floor, had simply glared at him before turning to leave the room. After she broke his system, then trampled over several of his CDs during her exit of his room, he got up then ran after her; they had a good yell-for-all after he caught up to her. With their mother not being at home, and Lhaklar taking some Zzzz's after spending most of the previous night in the strip club that he worked at, and Bile being with his friends, it was really up to his father to cool him and his sister down and to get on his sister for what she did.

The Princess, as he started calling her on the tenth, which was four days ago, hadn't gotten off on what she did. From what he could tell, his sister was a spoiled thing and she also thought that she was daddy's favorite and could get away with everything. The old man had really gotten on her before telling her to apologize and then do the spell to return his system to the way it was before it was damaged; after learning that she knocked some of his things from the system's shelf, and trampled over some of his CDs during her exit of his room, the man said for her to return everything that fell to the floor to where it was suppose to be and then check and do the repairing spell on the CDs that were broken. While she did that, she left the room without saying a word to him. His father, after that was done, and she was back to being in her room, came in to "inspect" his room—along with seeing that everything was back in order again, he saw the black-and-gold steam engine that was on one of his room's corner shelves.

"Looks like you've made a return to building trains, and are diving into the act of making your models be black and gold instead of the colors that the real deals are painted." the man said after seeing the steam engine.

"Lhaklar's the one responsible for finding that one; I'm the one who found the one that I'm currently building." he replied.

"Best let you get back to work on it, then." it was a quick visit, but he could tell that his father was impressed with the model engine that he recently completed.

Instead of going back to building his armored train engine, he grabbed some magazines then read/looked at them. The Slim Shady, an album that went out to the masses on February 23, 1999, and that was made by rapper Eminem, aka Marshall Bruce Mathers III, was only three songs in when his sister came in to disrespect him; after his system was restored to what it was before she put her hands on it, and the CDs and magazines were returned to their shelf, he resumed listening to it. Before swapping the CD with another, he made out the form that he found in one of the magazines that he was reading/looking at—with Guyunis's birthday being two weeks away, he thought that the 1886 Benz motorwagon model, and the 1886 American LaFrance Silsby-Manning Steam Fire Engine, would be good additions to his room and that they'd go well with him and that he'd appreciate having received them on the day that he was to turn one thousand, nine hundred, and two. He spent only €45 of what he was given on the ninth of June; while he wanted to use some of the rest on himself he also wanted to use some of it on his brothers—get them a model, or book or something that they'd like or appreciate, and get them something to emphasize to the old man and his sister that, just because they fought, and got on one another's nerves from time to time, they were close to one another.

The form for the two models would cost him €15, plus €5.95 for shipping and handling, but he thought it was well worth it for what he had in mind to do with them. In the next few hours, he had plans that revolved around his going up to his mother and then showing her the form and then saying that he wanted to send it, and the cash for the two models, out; while his mother was okay with his and his brothers' sending out and then receiving mail, she did prefer for them to tell her what was being sent in the mail and what was to be expected to come in the days to weeks to come.

After filling out the form, then setting the cash for the models to the side, he listened to one more CD before grabbing the Nvidia Shield and then playing two games on it. With it heading on 1:30, he thought it was way past time for him to head out for some fresh air. After grabbing his shit, then seeing if he was "presentable" for the outside world, he left his room then went down the hall. Whether it was fate or coincidence he didn't know but, right when he was heading down the stairs, he happened on Lazeer.

"Grumpy Owder Browdor." Lazeer said after they turned then passed one another.

"Annoying Little Shit." Hazaar returned.

"Counts double for you."

"Take it that you just got in from visiting the gym?"

"Yep."

For the last few months, he, Lazeer, and Guyunis had been visiting a "hole" that was in the side of of the local Rheinwaldschule. Lazeer's friends were the ones to "introduce" him to it and Lazeer, shortly after being shown it, had let him and Guyunis in on it; while they didn't make a habit out of visiting it every day, they did visit it maybe once to twice a week—while the pipes that hung from the ceiling were annoying, and while it got cold from time to time, they didn't mind the hassle in going into it. They were too busy in watching the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade girls change and shower. Up to recently, they thought that Bile and Lhaklar didn't know about their activity with the "hole"; while Bile was still clueless about it, Lhaklar knew about it. He sometimes tried to use it to make him and Lazeer behave. Lhaklar had yet to try blackmail on Guyunis; the same went for Bile.

"Surprised that they've done school the last few days," Hazaar said in a low whisper. His brother stopped then turned to look at him. "With it snowing the way it has over the last few days—"

"Think they decided to try to get in as many days as they can—they're behind schedule, y'know." Lazeer responded in an equally low whisper. "From what I saw, gym was inside-based today."

"Good thing too, otherwise we'd see a story on the news about how the "next generation gained frostbite then took on the appearance of a Popcicle after going out to do gym outside"." Hazaar said before asking, "Take it that dad's in the living room?"

"Yep. Think he's using his cellular. Take it that you're heading out?"

"Yeah. Better to head out than to be stuck here with Miss. Perfect."

Either Eshal had something against him and Hazaar or she was just plain annoyed with having more than two younger brothers—she was also driving him up a wall... but for a different reason. Instead of nagging him to death about his music, which she also hated but didn't seem to be voicing as much about, she was "getting" on him about his going out while his face looked the way it was. In her words, he should stay inside until it was either seventy-five to a hundred percent better. Both of his parents seemed to be mutual on the subject of his going out—in their words, he should go out to enjoy the weather, and take in the opportunities that one of his age could do, and that his goggled glass opened up for him to do. They also agreed that the outside air was good for his face, and could aid in healing it up.

Yesterday, before he went out to have a rousing snowball fight with Bile and Guyunis, he found himself as being burglarized. Eshal went into his room then snarked his goggled glass—her attempt to keep him inside was thwarted by both him, who did more than raise the roof after seeing that she was leaving his room, and had in her possession his goggled glass, and Lhaklar, who gave her more than an earful on what she should and shouldn't touch or confiscate from the ones that are her siblings. Eshal and Lhaklar actually got into a hissing contest after that earful was given; the old foggy was both fast and slow in coming up to both separate and see what was going on with them.

Seeing as Lhaklar had already gotten on Eshal for her going into his room without say-so first, then taking his goggled glass, and for touching things that weren't hers, the man hadn't had a chance to get on her for any of that; he did his best in getting on her, regardless of Lhaklar coming in to take his place on that. Even though she heard that Lhaklar, and their father, had gotten on Eshal for what she did, their mother, when she got in from work, then heard what happened, got on her too.

Since he just got in from going outside, he decided to stay home. He wished his brother well on whatever he was to do, and on his getting out without gaining the old man's attention, then went up to his room. His brother thanked him then finished his descent down the stairs—judging by how the door opened, then shut a few seconds later, Hazaar got out without attracting the old foggy's "ultra-sensitive" radar. The old man was still trying to get his brother to stay off his feet, and stay at home a little longer—so his hip could heal properly, of course—and, really, so was their mother. After his brother exited the house, and the house went into Quiet Mode, he sat then started work on one of the two models that he purchased at the start of the month.

 _June 14, 4101, 1:28 PM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _Glad to hear from you—came under the belief that you decided to become elusive on us. How's things with the boys, and Eshal and Angel?_

 _June 14, 4101, 1:31 PM  
_ _Surfeit, TazirVile Lajoshu; 771-543-3842_

 _With it being the weekend, Angel's at home and looking after things. Most of the boys are out and about; it's really just me, Angel, Eshal, Guyunis, and now Lazeer that are indoors. Been snowing for the last few days—the boys seem to love it, and are doing what they can to go out in it._

 _June 14, 4101, 1:40 PM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _Serious? I don't envy you—think I speak for more than one on having experienced enough of that weather while being on that planet. I got an answer on how Angel and the boys are but I received no word on Eshal; what's going on with her?_

Good question; as his youngest son, who just came in from what he did that day, was sitting down to work on his model, and as his second youngest son was teleporting to where he was planning on going, he thought about how his daughter was faring with the boys. While things could be worse, he honestly thought that she was just experiencing the motions of being under the same roof as her siblings and trying to both establish a sibling-based relationship with them and get use to them. This assumption of his was the only thing that he had in regards to her actions. As of the last couple of days, it seemed that, with every turn that he did, she and one of her brothers were fussing and fighting among themselves.

While Eshal had yet to turn on Bile or Guyunis, she seemed to have targets aligned on Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer. It was either their music, or boy memes that they did that were oftentimes annoying or embarrassing for both the one that did them and the one that was around to witness them, or something that wasn't known.

He was surprised that Eshal wasn't spending any time outside. With it being in the high-sixties to mid-seventies on June 10 and 11, she should of gone out to either get some fresh air or take a walk—the boys had no issue in going out on them days, that was for sure. The fact of her not going out on the twelfth and thirteenth was also a surprise—it snowed on them days; with there being enough snow on the ground to fool around with, she should of gone out to play with it. The boys had, once again, showed that they weren't turned off in going outside on them days. Bile, Guyunis, and Lazeer went out to play in the backyard—he received a shock on each of the days where it snowed; along with going out to play with the snow, they collected some of it for their mother, who liked to make this dessert called "Snow Cream". Lhaklar and Hazaar used the front yard to play and collect the snow from. Eshal, instead of going out on them days, had sat and simply stared at the antics of her brothers.

The weather, for today, was good and, except for that one thing that happened earlier that morning between Eshal and Hazaar, nothing had happened between his children. He was on his toes, regardless of this. At the moment, his wife was cleaning the kitchen and dining room floors and Eshal was cleaning the back patio door—the last time he went by the window that looked in on the dining room, he noticed that she was looking out at the semi-circle of trees that were in the backyard. If he to make any guesses, she wanted to go out and stretch her legs—why she didn't was beyond him; he was sure that Angel'd be fine with her putting the sponge that she was using down and in going out, and he was sure that Eshal would relish in some outside time too.

 _June 14, 4101, 1:43 PM  
_ _Surfeit, TazirVile Lajoshu; 771-543-3842_

 _Getting use to her brothers, and learning the ropes of the stove and spending as much time around her "busy-body" of a mother as she can._

The reply came in fifteen minutes later. His stepfather, who he sent a text to at the top of the hour, was a little busy, but he was using what "free-time" he had to respond to him. The last message was their last. Cheshire Keueitt Ubalki said that it was nice speaking to him, and that they needed to speak more, and that he needed to go; he presumed that he put his cellular away after sending that to him. His stepfather had just gotten through purchasing two new units of land, that were said to have more than two mines under their top layers of soil, and he was looking to hire people to break ground on them mines and see what was in them. Along with wishing him luck on what he found in them mines, he told him small pieces of information of how he and his were faring. In a while, he'd use his phone again to call Efagti, the older of his mother and stepfather's children, and see how he and the rest of his family were.

Seeing as his wife and daughter were in the kitchen and dining room, and were preoccupied with activities that women liked to do in a house, and that most of his sons were out of the house—Hazaar had sure broke his neck in getting out of the house... he had no more saw someone going past the opening that was before the living room before hearing the door open and then shut—, he stood from where he was then went towards the stairs. He returned his phone to his inside jacket pocket while going up them then, about halfway up the stairs, he stopped then bent down.

He back-tracked down the stairs with the cat that he just scooped up. Once she was on the hallway floor, and was going towards the living room, he went back up the stairs then went to Lazeer's room. Unlike his daughter, who didn't seem to want to use the common courtesy gesture of knocking before entering the room that one of her brothers owned and used, he knocked on the door then waited for verbal permission to come in.

"Come in!" his son shouted from the room's interior.

He went in without missing a beat. After going into the room, he found that his son was seated at his corner desk; while he acknowledged him, and went towards him, it wasn't him that had his immediate attention. It was the model that his attention was drawn towards.

Lazeer, before the snow started to fall, went to the community center; when he came back, he had a small collection of stuff on him that included some food for his polliwogs and other critters and two, big boxes that had better than decent-sized models in them. The bugs, he presumed, were either in the fridge or container that was in the room's closet; the boxes of moist bits were probably in one of his son's dresser drawers while one of the two models was resting in plain sight under the desk.

The base of the model that his son was building was nearly two feet long and a foot wide. Going by that, he knew that it was going to be big; he also knew that it was going to look outstanding once it was completed. His son spoke none after he entered his room; after approaching him, then looking over his shoulder, he saw that his model was a diorama—something that was based on a specific scene from a film or real-life event. Going by the box's depicted image, he knew that it was based on a wrecked pirate boat that was lying on the bottom of the ocean.

"I shiver at what you spent on that." he said after seeing what the model was about.

"Not as much as you think," Lazeer replied.

"Take it that you and your brothers get one to two models a month?" he asked.

"Sometimes. Sometimes, we skip on getting any models—of the five of us, Bile's not all that interested in building models. He'll only get and then build one to pass the time away, or when he doesn't have anything to do." Lazeer replied.

While keeping an eye on the shadow, that his father was projecting on the wall that was nearly six inches away, he worked on his model and engaged him in conversation. He bet his honestly in saying that he and his brothers got just one to two models a month was a load and a half off the man's shoulders; the man was probably wondering if he was going to be throwing oodles and globs of cash at him and his brothers so they could do an endless amount of model building a month or something. If the man had asked him about it, he would of said the honest truth about their model building being nothing more than a hobby—while taken seriously, it wasn't an obsession. If they got a model, they were happy and, if they didn't... well, they'd still be happy because there were other things out there that they could do and that'd take up their time. He and his brothers weren't a homebody type of people—even Guyunis, who started being so shy and reluctant to be away from any of them, or the place that they were staying in, wasn't a homebody type of person.

"Of what I gave you, what's left over?" his father asked.

While he didn't dawdle in answering the question, he did have a mild panic attack—while he didn't spend all of what he received on the ninth in one go, he did spend nearly all of it a few days later. After receiving his allowance, he spent about €8 of it on his magazines before pocketing the rest for another day; on the eleventh, he went out to do a restock on supplies for his pets. After spending €15 on the crickets, wax worms, tomato worms, and moist bits, he started to leave the community center. The two models—one of a crashed plane and the other of a wrecked pirate boat—were on display in one of the center's shop's windows; he was instantly drawn to them and, seeing as he liked them so much, he bought and then brought them home. The €35 model, that he was building, had cost him more than the other, which cost him €25. Since he was in the shop, he went on and did a restock on model paint and glue too, which cost him an additional €10. Up to his going out to take a little walk around the neighborhood on the thirteenth, he had €5 to his name.

He found €10 on the side of the road yesterday, and €20 today while he was in town, just checking things out and getting some fresh air, so he went from being nearly broke to pretty wealthy in nothing flat—course, he wasn't to tell a soul on this. For all he knew, the old foggy might get on him for taking cash that was lying out and about, and his sister might snap at him for taking money up from the filthy ground. If anyone found out, then started clawing at his backside about his having it, he'd just quote the old Finders Keepers thing—it was lying on the ground; he found and decided to take upon the chance presented to him to take it before anyone else came across or took it for themselves.

Since he mostly grabbed a cigarette from either Lhaklar, Guyunis, or Hazaar, he didn't have to worry about throwing any of what he found on something to smoke. He could use it on something else, or just hang onto it until the month was nearly through, or until something came up and he needed to use it. Two of his Emperor Newts were looking rather round, and they, and the third one that was with them, did need a bigger cage, so he might use what he found on getting them a new cage and some stuff to fill it with. If he came across anymore dough in the weeks to come, he'd do the same thing in picking it up then stuffing it in his pocket—it was lying on the ground, and had no name-tag on it, so it was perfectly legal for him to take it.

"Thirty," he lied.

"You didn't spend all of it in one day? Surprised over that, son. Was expecting for all one hundred to be spent in nothing flat."

"Gotta keep some of it—need some revenue to survive the rest of the month."

"Thanks for reminding me to put a lock on your door."

"The door might get a lock put on it but you can't lock my window." he stopped the work on his model to turn then wink at his father.

"No, but I can very well position Zanra outside your window—she barks, your mother and I come rushing, then you're pulled back in."

"Thanks for warning me about your security system, I'll be sure to get a plane ticket to Switzerland and then pack and be out of here long before tonight's over."

"Funny, son."

Even though he meant to put them away, so his father and sister wouldn't see them, he had somehow forgotten to do so. After his father came into his room, then checked out his model and spoke to him, he moved off to make his rounds of checking his frogs and other out-and-about items. During his doing this, he came across the little article and cartoon that his brother cut from the paper that was put out on June 11 and 12.

He and his family were on the news, and in the papers, everywhere after the human who took their picture sold it, then gave all of what he acquired after going into Aldi Market to the newspaper outlet that he went to. While he and his family's little outing to the store was made known to everyone, they weren't bothered by anyone who worked for the newspaper or news channels. They were left alone, which was a big relief to both of his parents and to him and his siblings—with everyone now knowing about his father and sister being in the shield, and knowing that his father was his mother's husband, and that Eshal was her daughter, they had expected for the constant knocking to doorbell ringing to happen and for him and his brothers to be followed incessantly by people who worked for the news outlets.

Normal-day people, and the people who ran the news, were going crazy with their speculations on what was going on with his family. While he had a feeling that Mr. Leinart, and the others who ran the Chancellery, were remaining as tight-lipped as could be on what was learned, something told him that they'd not be able to do so for long—the exercising of the country's Informationsfreiheitsgesetze, or Freedom of Information law, was said to be done soon; no one could really keep anything back after that was exercised, sadly.

The two items, that his father found and then picked up, were on his dresser. While the article was on his family, the cartoon was in reference to his mother's father—on the twelfth, at around noon, Master Vile, who he wouldn't dare call his grandfather in this life or the next, was cited as saying that all willing, non-Earth parties who were looking for a new planet to reside on could now move and settle in among the humans that he ruled over on the other side of the planet. With his conquest of the North and South American continents going the way it did, and with the people of them continents not liking him the way they did, it was no surprise about the backlash that was going on in regards to the man's "declaration" on other people now being allowed to come in to populate the part of the planet that he had control of. The cartoon showed the man as looking a bit cowardly towards a horde of silhouettes that were carrying North and South American flags; while he had a bull whip and chair in his hands, and was standing, he was hunched over and looked rather nervous of the ones who were lunging, pointing, and yelling at him.

Lhaklar cut both items from the paper but, instead of taking them to his room, then filing them wherever he was putting the other items that he clipped from the paper, he left them on either the dining room table or one of the kitchen counters. He took them up with the intention of keeping them until his brother asked about them; once his brother started asking about them, he'd say that he had them. He'd give them to him after doing so.

"In a way, son, I understand how the ones who live overseas feel on what my nephew is doing. It's much too early to start the process of integrating the ones of this world with the ones who live in the other worlds of the Universe." his father said after taking the cartoon up then looking at it. "A quick lesson, son, that I shall give you now lies in how a conqueror goes by conquering a specific realm that's remote, or that boasts folk who don't know or have a small understanding to what's around them—it's best have the people of that realm settle down to their new way of life, and to accept who their new ruler is, and it's best to give it ten to twenty years before gradual integration is done. Small pockets of other realm folk are permitted to move in, and establish themselves, at a time; once its noted that tensions are low, and that the already resident occupants of the planet are accepting of the ones who've moved in among them, a larger amount of folk are allowed in. Careful monitoring, and assistance, is suppose to be given to both parties."

"Take it that Master Vile's not going to do that?" Lazeer asked. While he had no interest in being a conqueror, or in being evil, he was interested in how it went after one conquered a specific planet or galaxy and then started bringing other folk in to populate it.

While he wanted to say no, he decided to lie and say doubt it instead. His nephew, while barely into his hundred thousands, and while only having three galaxies and a single planet to his name, was both taught and knew well how to conquer and integrate people of other races to those that had either a basic understanding or no understanding or inkling to there being others out there that were sentient or to there being realms beyond the one that they lived on; despite this, he still preferred to be fast in integrating one species with another. Going by example of what happened with the Dark Galaxy, which boasted several planets that were either remote or had folk on them that didn't know or had a small understanding of the realm that they were in, and of what was around them, and which was in his nephew's control, he knew that Vile wasn't going to monitor or assist any of the people that moved to Earth or any of the people that were born and raised on Earth—the poor souls who decided to move to Earth were going to be on their own. They were also going to be met with a lot of prejudice, sadly.

What got him was the fact that, instead of doing things slowly, by integrating small units of people to a realm that boasted folk who were unaware of how big the Universe was, or of how many galaxies there were out there, or that there were other sentient peoples out there, his nephew just threw the doors open. He let anyone and everyone in and he turned a blind eye to who moved in; this, to him, was sloppy conquering and rulership and he frowned on it greatly. No one, not even Vile's own parents, were able to change the way he did this. Going by how long it took the people who roamed the surface of WHN 0A and QU-49, the sixth and thirtieth planets in the Dark Galaxy, to accept the ones who were allowed to come in and integrate among them, he knew that it was going to take a while for the humans to calm down and accept whoever it was that was to become their other worldly neighbors.

The humans, though categorized as a Survivor Species, for their ability in being able to survive certain situations that put a lot of stress on a species, and that caused several forms of a planet's present life to either go extinct or be culled down in numbers, were very well known to be prejudice to the members of their own kind. They had a way of being negative towards folk who had dark skin, or practiced a certain religion that was different or not as well known as the other religions that were practiced on the planet, or for having an attraction to their same gender, or for speaking a little different, or for not having a good vocabulary, or for speaking a language that was different or that wasn't well known, and, for reasons that no one was really able to understand, they also acted negatively towards certain morales and to where one stood on the social ladder. It was on record that the mass use of racial prejudice that the humans showed to their own kind spanned up to the late twenty-ninth century; while it was still shown by some people on the planet, it wasn't as widely seen anymore. Going by the history that was known on the species, if he had to make any guesses on how long it was going to take for the humans to settle down towards the ones who relocated to their planet, he'd bank on it being anywhere between a thousand to two thousand years. Angel had sure been sympathetic to both parties—the ones who live in North and South America, who went through so much in a year's time, and the ones who were about to take up residence on the planet and then experience more than their fair share of specieal prejudice.

With knowing what was to happen on the planet in the coming months to years, he really did wish that the first month of his and his family's stay here wasn't dropped, or that the agreed six month stay would be dropped. He really didn't want his wife or sons on the planet when all the prejudice with the humans towards the other races that moved in among them started.

"Take its the fact that Angel's the planet's heroine, and the boys are her sons, that keeps her and them from being wrongly persecuted." he thought before making the decision to leave his son's room.

Except for all that he and his family had experienced in the last four days, nothing really eventful had happened in the house. After learning about Angel's interest in making "Snow Cream", he had made the decision to see about getting some of the snow that fell on Fulnoos, one of the three moons that orbited Moas, for her after the move from the planet was done. It snowed eight months out of the year on that moon, and the snow was always fluffy and healthy, so it'd be perfectly fine, and safe, for her to use for her peculiar little dessert. According to Eshal, it was an easy recipe to make; it consisted of a cup of milk, a third cup of granulated sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, a pinch a salt, and eight cups of snow. Two of the containers of "Snow Cream", that Angel made a few days ago, had sprinkles in them while the others were bare of anything. While the dessert was good, he wasn't but so favoring towards it, since the taste was pretty basic in comparison to the flavors of ice cream that he preferred to dine on. Angel, the boys, and Eshal were the ones to do most of the indulging; he just ate a bowl and a half of it before leaving the rest to them.

Seeing as the boys had such an interest in playing in and with the snow, he had made automatic plans on, one day, taking them, and Angel, to Fulnoos as a sort of vacation thing. He bet they'd like that.

With his grandfather's, father's, Kuruk's, and Trobrencus's exits of the planet nearly two months ago, it'd be a while longer before the weather shaped up to being what it was before he destroyed the atmospheres. On estimate, he guessed that it'd take another month to two months before everything evened out and returned to normal with the weather. He bet the humans would enjoy that—there was sure a lot of groaning going on about it... along with paying special attention to the news that was revolving around his and his daughter being sighted with his wife and sons, and on that cashier blurting all of what she was told by his wife, he was keeping good tabs on how the humans were faring with the continuous erratic weather.

 _Ribbit!_

He was just about to leave the room when the animal gave out its call. His son laughed at his pet polliwog's decision in making noise before he exited the room, while he just left the room silently. It seemed that, whenever he came into his lastborn son's room, he'd hear a croak right before he left it. His son thought it was hilarious while he was slightly annoyed by it—instead of making their noise only at nighttime, they made most of their calls then. About ten to fifteen percent of the calls were made during the morning and afternoon hours. His staff were aware of his sons' pets, so there'd be no surprises in that area for anyone who lived and worked under his roof after the move was done; with his not having much contact with the Surfeit side of his family over the last few months, and with his deciding to keep them in the dark on what was going on with him and his, they didn't know about his sons' pets. While leaving his son's room, and trying to rein-in his annoyance over one of his son's pets making a sound, yet again, when he left it, he thought back to what one of his stepfather's text messages said.

Vile was found guilty of assault of his stepfather's secondborn son and was both cuffed and carted to jail on the twenty-sixth of May. His court case, while strong and based on two similar charges, wasn't going in his favor. His nephew was saying that the assault was justified, seeing as his sons attacked him, and were "illegal parties" on his planet that he was only trying to capture and then remove—despite the call of his sons only fighting him in their own defense, the judges of the five courts that the case was pushed through hadn't reached a verdict that he was content with. At the moment, he and Vile were warring on Brol, a planet that was untouchable by people who conquered, and where the Elder Courts were held on. Yesterday, after watching one of the films that his wife was associated with, he received word via his cellular that he was needed to be at the Elder Courts on the fourteenth to see the verdict—the Elder Courts were the highest court known out there in the Universe but, beside this, and his case's strong points, he had a feeling deep within his gut that they weren't to be giving out the desired verdict. Vile had spoken and shown a bunch of lies and falsified documents over the last few weeks that the three judges seemed to agree with. With his being too afraid to leave Earth, and conduct issues both in court and on Moas, he hadn't been able to denounce any of what his nephew was presenting to the courts.

In a way, he was scared of the outcome of this court appearance. This was really the only other court system that he could go through on his issue; problems, on his end, could happen if the verdict came through on behalf of his nephew—while he and his family were safe now, thanks to the protective shields that his wife placed over this part of the planet, which had yet to be downed, they might not be so safe after the move to Moas was done. His sons, and his wife, might be a little upset after the move to Moas was done but, if the verdict was in favor of Vile instead of him, he'd not be letting them go out on their own—there was no way in hell that he was going to let Vile have the chance in offing one of his offspring, or take his wife from him, when they were out in the nearby town or cities or doing whatever they were given permission to do that was away from home. With Moas being in the M-51 Galaxy, the place of his, his nephew's, and all of the rest of his family's birth and raising, and with his nephew being in control of that galaxy, he wouldn't put it against his nephew to be on the look-out for his children, or wife, after the move was done.

"The boys are of the Strong Elite, yes, but they're no match for Vile. Angel might be able to fend her father off in trying to protect them but, when they're alone, they wouldn't be able to do so. Vile's a grown man and the boys are teenagers; the scales are much too unbalanced to favor them in victory if they found themselves as having to come against him." he thought while going down to the living room, where he thought he'd have a little chance to unwind his nervousness before the rest of his family returned home.


	16. Chapter 16

"Hey Bub, why so blue when you practically owned the floor?" Anton Fashingbauer, one of his fellow dancers, who had red hair, blue eyes, and a face full of freckles, said after he came into the area where the Die Heiß und Hastig lockers were. Either the man was seeing things or some invisible message was being received—he was just as happy as could be.

"I have no idea, seeing as I made €250 tonight, and had a blast while making it, I feel no blue coming through my green complexion." Lhaklar replied.

"Seem to be moving around in slo-mo tonight." Anton said. "And doing a lot of glancing at your feet too."

"Must be seeing my unknown twin because I've not been doing neither."

Which was true—upon getting to his place of work, he had a good kick in his step and was close to whistling. After using a small bit of his Telepathy, to see if his parents were asleep, and if his sister was where she was suppose to be, he grabbed his work bag then escaped the house via his bedroom window. Since August of last year, he was leaving the house at 11 o'clock each Monday, Wedsnesday, Friday, and Saturday night; his destination wasn't to see a girl, or to meet someone who was selling drugs, or to get into trouble. His hours at the Die Heiß und Hastig were from eleven to around seven—he slipped out unnoticed, then work until around 7:15 or so, then clock-out and go home; the act of his pulling a fast one in sliding under the covers, then feigning his being asleep, would happen next. This act of his hadn't been in-stone right from the onslaught of his being hired to work the club. While it was a formulated plan, and one that he started doing right after being hired to do what he did at the club, it didn't always go like this and he wasn't always confident in it working out. It took him weeks to get confident on it, and to perfect it.

When the old man and Eshal moved into the house, he started to feel a bit unconfident in his plan continuing without fault. After the first few days of his going to work, he started to calm down then, a week or so after they moved in, he started using his Telepathy to ensure that they were where they were suppose to be and doing what they were suppose to be doing—which was lying on either a bed or couch and being asleep. While still a little unconfident in his plan continuing without a hitch, he was going on in his routine and making the money that his family depended on.

As far as he knew, his father was unaware of his going out after Light's Out. Except for the general noting of his being sleepy on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday morning, he had shown no interest in wanting to stay up past the hour when everyone went to bed, or wanting to know what he really did at work. Since he knew it was going to come up one day, he met and then befriended someone in the mall that was in the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center, which was both in the city of Karlsruhe and where the Die Heiß und Hastig was. He and his buddy, who co-owned a shop in the mall, had set-up a scheme that revolved around his working in his establishment—a falsified document, that said he worked for the store, what his hours were, what days of the week he was suppose to be in for work, and his work history, was drawn up right after they got in with one another real good, and after he exposed his little issue. He and his buddy were just two months in on their friendship but they were pretty thick—so much so that he even called the house for normal, friend-based talk! He was pretty sure that the ruse would work if anything came up on anyone in his family needing a confirmation on what he really did during the hours that he was away from the house and supposedly working.

The idea of changing his workstation—of quitting the Die Heiß und Hastig, then working at his buddy's place—had never crossed his mind. He liked what he was doing, he preferred to do what he was, and he liked the better in quantity paycheck that he got from what he was doing. While he spun yarns on his being a cashier at some location—like the Walmart that was located in Green River, Wyoming—in the past, he had no intention of being employed to do that chore; he thought that one who was on the workforce should best stick to what they had experience in doing and, since he had five years of being a male stripper—or dancer, as he called it—under his belt, he figured that this was the best bet for him to go by in finding and keeping work. The pay was better than grand, the adrenaline rush was good, and, while the cash-flow sometimes dropped or wasn't always assured, he made more than enough to help his family get along each month.

"Prob'bly blue because I showed up tonight, and because I brought in two hundred more than he." Rémy De Sauveterre, a typical French man, who had fair to light skin, and short, brown hair, that was set in a braided undercut, said. The twinkle, that was in his light green eyes, and the way that he was holding his slightly pointy chin, told them that he was joking.

"Nah, €250 is a fine paycheck to be taking home." Lhaklar said.

"Willing to bank on his finding himself having to fork most of what he gets each night that he works here to that man that's living with him and his family." Aldric Schulze, a tall, thirty year old man who had a reddish tinge to his dark hair, and piercing, black eyes, said after coming into the locker room.

"That it? In order to "soothe" Mr. Irene, you're giving him half of your paycheck?" Anton asked.

"Nope, all that I make goes to where its suppose to and is spent on what its usually spent on—which is the bills, and what's needed for the pantry." Lhaklar replied.

"He and his girlfriend must be having trouble, then." Kristof Rothbauer, a short, brown-haired man, who had icy blue eyes, said.

"You guys are insane," Lhaklar smiled, then shook his head. "Except for a rather annoying older sister, everything at home is going well."

"Oh, so we have a confirmation on who it is that gets half of your paycheck?" Aldric chuckled.

"She's very fast in jumping on me! The second I get home, she charges then practically tears my wallet from me. All of what I make is then spent on hair-care products and other feminine items." Lhaklar joked.

"Sick the polizei on her and fast, man!" Rémy said.

"We have a hearing this coming Tuesday so stay tuned—you might see her on the news, being herded away in cuffs and being forced to belch out all of what she's taken from me these past two months." Lhaklar said.

Up to when Ambros Kloppenburg came into the room, they continued with their joking. When the man, who was both very obese and highly-tempered, entered the room, they went quiet then went on to disrobing from the clothes that they wore while being on the dance floor. Ambros, who was very keen in speaking lowly of anyone who was under the age of twenty-five, and was apt to snap at the younger of his fellow co-dancers when they danced when he did for their "stealing his show", looked around the room once before going towards his locker. Lhaklar, who wore the formal items that a butler would, disrobed from what he was wearing, then donned what he was wearing before hitting the stage, then grabbed his bag and left the building. While on the way out of the building, he reminded himself that his adoptive brother's birthday was eight days away, and that he just gained the required revenue for the item that he wanted to purchase for him—with this being the second birthday that Guyunis had shared while being with him and his family, and with this also being the first birthday that Guyunis had shared with them while being under a civilized setting, he was hoping to try to wow him with something that'd not only say that he was an official brother to him but that might get his mind off the things that were currently happening under their roof.

His response pertaining to how things were going at home was actually very truthful—except for Eshal's near-constant antics, everything was going well. Except for the few hours that occurred on the fifteenth, where his father came home looking all in a bind, the man was backing down on him and his brothers and seemed to be somewhat favorable towards how they went by life. Hazaar and Lazeer, just the other day, resumed the play of their favorite Super Dendy game and he never broke out in a sweat about it nor went to turn the system, or tv, off after a set of narrative was heard that included cursing in it. A little bit of hot water was experienced when Bile and Guyunis decided to break open one of the games that were combatible with the Atari XE game system, which was also in the living room. Blue Max, a scrolling shooter game, was one of their favorite games to dual-play and it just so happened that, when they were playing it the day following the old man's return from wherever he went, he snapped at them for their usage of suckas and bastard—Guyunis said suckas after downing a few fleets that were about to take him down while Bile said bastard after Guyunis "cheated" his way past him to beat one of the level's boss airplanes.

Guyunis, despite looking a little unnerved by being snapped at, had stayed in the room and continued to play the game with Bile, who wasn't all that bothered by being snapped at. It was nice to see that Guyunis was spending time in the same room that the old man was in and it was also nice to see that he was resuming the old way that he was living. Guyunis had yet to have any real conversations with the old man but, judging by the look that he was getting on his face—the old curiosity look that one got when the wheels were turning and something was wanted to be done but the one who harbored the body was too afraid to voice or do it—, it wouldn't be long before one actually did happen.

What surprised them was the fact that Eshal was now gunning for Lazeer. While she was still annoying him and Hazaar, it seemed that she was now more interested in annoying Lazeer... and destroying certain things of his that he was either building, had built, or had around his room. Another issue with the music being played "too loud" was encountered on the 15th and 17th; Hazaar had since taken to putting the room Silencer spell on his room to prevent their sister from hearing his music; Lazeer really should of followed by example—it would of saved some of the models that were hanging from his ceiling. During the late-morning hours of June 15, Lazeer, who had just gotten through building his model of a wrecked pirate boat, and then started working on his crashed plane model, was listening to UB40, a British reggae and pop band that was around from 1978 to the early twenty-first century, when Eshal slammed the door to his room open then started screaming at him about his music. Lazeer was too freaked to not adhere to her demand in turning his music off. An hour to two hours later, a repeat was encountered—Bob Marley was playing, and the stereo that was in their youngest brother's room was set to level five; Eshal, along with slamming the door to the room open, had pulled two of Lazeer's ceiling-adorned models down in her trek to his stereo. Lazeer had both beat her to it and prevented her from touching it; despite this, he wasn't able to prevent her from stomping on one of the models that were pulled from his ceiling. Lazeer never got an apology from her on his models being pulled from where they were or from her stepping on and then destroying one of them; by way of a repairing spell, he was able to save that model. Both models were returned to his room's ceiling about fifteen to twenty minutes later.

On the 17th, when he was listening to some music by Phyllis Dillon, a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae singer who was around from the late 1960's to the early 2000's, and trying to work on his model some more, a near-similar encounter occurred—instead of just barging into Lazeer's bedroom, then going towards his stereo, and ripping the hanging models from his ceiling in the process, Eshal came in then rushed over to him. She, as shocking as it was to believe, had jabbed their youngest brother in the chest. Since he wasn't at home at the time, he got the scoop from Hazaar on what happened after their brother's chest was jabbed at. Eshal, who was obviously trying to take a nap, but who didn't tell anyone about it, had swiped her hand at the model that Lazeer was building after assaulting his chest with her finger. All of the parts to their brother's model were flung from his desk; their father was fast in getting on Eshal but, from what Hazaar told him, she didn't take any of what he said in. She gave their brother a halfway meant apology. Their father was the one who restored the model to the way it was before Eshal decided to swipe it from the desk that it was on.

"She dedicated a quarter of the sixteenth and yesterday to driving me and Hazaar crazy; the rest of them days, she was either concentrative towards Lazeer or using her cellular or hanging around mom." he thought before quieting his mind on that subject so to think of the house that he and his family lived in and then teleport to it.

It continued to snow for all of two days before stopping. A warm spell was experienced on the sixteenth, which caused most of the snow that was on the ground to melt and then evaporate into the atmosphere, then, like a cruel slap to the face, the heat came in. With it being in the high nineties where he and his family were living, none of them wanted to go out for long—a small scare was received for the people who lived in south Germany yesterday afternoon. Somehow, a "cold breeze" settled over the area, which caused two to three medium to large-scale tornadoes to form and then reek havoc on certain parts of the country. The old man was more than glued to the tv because of it and, with Hazaar being the storm-nut that he was, so was he. The snow, in his location, was all gone now; judging by the breeze that was being felt, and the sky looking the way it did, it looked like the area's present sentient and animal life were going to experience another stress-filled day that may or may not involve tornadoes.

After appearing before the house, he spell-sent his bag to his room—he use to send it to the "Son Cave" but, with the old man and Eshal using that room, it was just too risky to send it there and then collect and take it up to his room without having one or the other stop and then ask him what was in it... or go down to the room before he had a chance to do so then find the bag and start sifting through it. Once his bag was in his room, he jabbed his arms at the ground that was under his feet; once the ground pillar rose, and he was catapulted to his bedroom window, he rose his arms. After his forward motion carried him halfway up the house, and his hands settled around the exterior window sill that was outside of his bedroom, he pulled himself up then pushed his window open.

His window, on the nights when he was scheduled to go to work, was always unlocked when he left the house. This was no different last night, when he escaped the house to go to the club. Once his window was open, he pulled his top half into his room then used his legs to get the other half in—this routine of his use to be clumsy but, after a week or two, it got easier to do. With his having to pull himself into his room, his arms and legs had gotten stronger, so he was now able to lift himself with little to no trouble. Once he was in his room, he took his shirt off then went towards the door. The act of sliding the shirt under the door's crack was done quickly, as was his turning the room's light on and then going to close the bedroom window—once these three tasks were done, he grabbed his bag then walked it to the closet then started undressing. He put his PJ bottoms on, then turned the light off, then slid under the covers of his bed; unlike the other mornings that he came home from work, where he slept for around half an hour before being aroused by Bile's alarm, he found himself as not being that tired. From his return home, to Bile's alarm going off, he just stared at the ceiling.

"Dad," Eshal said almost immediately after getting dressed then doing her routine in the upstairs bathroom. Her father was just now leaving the room that he shared with her mother the night before; though giving a small grumble over being stopped, he turned to look at her. She automatically knew that he was going to be a little more grumpier than the previous mornings that they spent under the roof of the home that they were in. "My phone's out of minutes, can you get me enough for—"

"You know my policy, Eshal." TazirVile said.

"Yes but—"

"No but's, Eshal." TazirVile said.

"Can I use yours, then?"

"No."

"Dad!"

Female teenagers did seem to have a habit out of using the minutes that were on their phones before the middle-part of a month; while he knew this, he also knew that it was best to keep his daughter's plan to what it was over adding more to it. Unlike he, who had unlimited minutes on his cellular, Eshal had a total of fifteen hundred on hers—which should last her to either the final or the next to final day of the month. With his being a conqueror, and his cellular number being in possession of more than fifty people who took care of the various governments that he inacted in his conquered realms, he had to have unlimited minutes on his—for all he knew, business might need to be squared away on his phone and those almost always lapsed for more than twenty minutes. Eshal was a teenager, so she didn't need unlimited minutes or more than what she already had on her phone; he and she had spoken on the issue of how much she used her phone, and on what was to happen if her minutes ran out because of her continuous use of the thing, so she should automatically know that he wasn't to budge from where he stood on how many minutes she received each month for her plan.

Cellulars, while around during his childhood and teenage years, were more for the adults' use than for the children. He was allowed to look at, and question his father's phone, but he wasn't allowed to touch or use it. Up to when the loan was removed from one of Gamma Vile's banks, he hadn't had a cellular or any plans to grow concerned with. After gaining a cellular, he had the basic plan of twelve hundred minutes, which he very barely used back then. It was only after his conquest of the Vaisha Galaxy occurred that he got himself the unlimited plan—a meeting via cellular, which came very close to zapping his phone of all its minutes, was what caused him to make the switch in plans. After Eshal turned fourteen hundred years old, he purchased the very phone that she was using and then added the plan that she had to it. Along with lapsing on her minutes several times, she always came to him asking for more to be added to it so she could continue with its use. The answer was always the same; the same went when the question was asked on whether she could use his phone to call or text her friends.

He didn't know how it was with male teenagers and phones but, sometime after the move to Moas was done, he would gain the knowledge of what it was like—he had plans to purchase five phones and then incorporate the same plans on them after they were fully settled under his roof. Going by how Baruk, his brother's young son, who was born both a few minutes after Lhaklar and in the same bed and room that Lhaklar was, and Phaggo, his mother and stepfather's teenage son, were with their phones, he thought that he might not have to worry about the phones' minutes lapsing. Baruk was either kept too busy in training, or preferred to go over and spend actual time with his friends, or used the landline phones in his father's house, to use the whole of his plan's minutes and Phaggo, while also all of them things, only used his phone when it was absolutely neccessary.

"Bile," he said while passing the oldest of the five boys in the house.

"Pop," Bile returned.

Except for that, neither he nor his son spoke a word more to one another. They went on their ways as if neither of them had spoken or were in the same house. The bathroom, that he was walking into, and which seemed to be newly vacated, was in good working order except for one thing. The floor consisted of light brown, hexigon porcelain tile; the walls and ceiling were a faint brown color; and the toilet and sink basin matched the color scheme well. Everything that acted as an accessory to the room matched the room's colors—the toilet had a decorative floral seat and lid on it, and had a light brown rug before it; there was a medium-brown curtain on the bathtub's rod; the light brown mat, that was before the tub, matched the rug that was before the toilet well.

The medicine cabinet, that was above the bathroom sink, had two, stainless steel towel rails beside it that contained all of what his secondborn son used on his hair. The cup, that was to the right of the sink, was a dark tan color that, again, matched the room's colors; the green bar of soap, that was on the copper-plated soap tray, that was above the cup, may look to not match the room's color scheme but its intended purpose caused him to overlook it. Beside the cup, there was a newly open tube of fresh mint toothpaste—again, while it didn't look to match the room's colors, he looked past it due to its intended and very important purpose.

The copper-plated toothbrush holder, that was under the medicine cabinet, was the thing that wasn't in good working order. There were a total of eight toothbrushes in the thing and all of them looked to be warring with one another for containment space. The toothbrush, that was to the holder's left side, and closest to the wall, was his wife's; it was purple and white. The toothbrush that was in front of his wife's belonged to Bile; along with being blue and white, it had a flexible neck. Lhaklar's toothbrush, which was rubber handled and green in color, was in front of Bile's. The toothbrush, that was on the holder's right side, and closest to the wall, was Hazaar's; it was both normal and red in color. Lazeer's yellow-colored toothbrush, which had a curved handle, was in front of Hazaar's. The final toothbrush, that was in the holder's appointed slots, was Guyunis's; it was red and black. Lying across the toothbrush holder were his and Eshal's toothbrushes—his was a striped, burgundy and white color while Eshal's was solid pink; while his had rippled bristles on it, Eshal's had normal bristles.

After entering the room, he used his toothbrush then emptied his bladder before leaving then going downstairs. On this morning, he was forced to not do his usual in going off to use the bathroom after getting up; his wife allowed him to oversleep, which caused him to be in a big hurry after waking—he was able to get in a shower before the kids woke up but he wasn't able to do anything else. With there being only two bathrooms in the house, and with there being eight people in here, the chore of using the bathroom after everyone woke up wasn't very nerve or trouble-free. He was slowly getting use to the act of he and his family living in a house that was this small and with there being only two bathrooms to accommodate everyone; with his mansion on Moas, there was a lot more room to move around and breathe in and, with he and his wife having a room that had an adjoined bathroom in it, they had more privacy and didn't have to play the waiting game. While understanding the reason to why he and his family were still on Earth, and while wanting the time to go slow so that reason could be achieved in a normal sense, he still had a desire for the remaining months to go by quicker—being able to resume his old life, and having his family on Moas, where he could always see and be involved in their raising, sounded like a better than grand idea to him and he was looking forward to when it happened.

 _Meow_

"Stuck again?" TazirVile said after coming upon the cat that was owned by his wife's adopted son.

This was the second day in a row that he found himself as coming across the small creature during the early morning hours. Like with the times that he scooped her up yesterday, he found himself doing it again today. Unless Guyunis was around to tend to matters of picking the animal up, and then carry her up or down the stairs, it was he who had a heart in helping her to the level that she wanted to be on. The cat made no motion in showing her displeasure in being handled by him; once she was picked up, then cradled in his arm, she went mostly still—her head, as always, pivoted up to look at him while he took her to the level that she looked to have an interest in being on. To him, the animal looked healthy but her legs were still right short for her age and, thanks to that, she couldn't get around like a normal feline.

The idea of asking Guyunis if he had ever gotten or taken her to see a vet had crossed his mind yesterday but, with the tornadic activity going on down south of them, he hadn't done it. While he was sure that she was a "mutt"—an animal that came from an unknown ancestry, or from many breed distinctions, and had more than one characteristic from each breed—, he had a feeling that she was unique. The color was nice, as was the animal's coarse hair, but what got him was the fact that she had a two-tone face and different colored eyes. Like Eshal, he had never seen an animal that had different colored eyes, or that's head was bi-colored, before. He was sly in asking his brother on the subject a few days ago and he came back by saying no—while conversation with the family that were now relocated to the M-51 Galaxy was slow in getting underway, it was now being done each day; of the people in his family, the only ones that he had yet to hear from were his father, grandfather, Trobrencus and his family, and Rubacon and his family. Curiously, when he asked Kuruk if he had heard anything from their grandfather, he said that he hadn't heard nor seen a thing of him since he and his returned home. While Kuruk had spoken with their father, he mentioned that he was acting rather standoffish and seemed to not want to be bothered by anyone—if he had to make any guesses on what was going on with him, he'd bank of the man being upset over his father playing the Eluse Game with everyone.

With his mansion having many staircases in it, and many hallways that were either long or short, the cat was going to have a lot of territory to explore... and was probably going to be growing exhausted very fast, and be unable to either go down the length of them longer hallways or present staircases. With his staff knowing about her, one of them might help her in getting to where she wanted to go, or alert her owner to her being "trapped" somewhere in the house and needing help to get to her destination. With knowing how dogs were with cats, he was almost certain that the house, and the many things that were in it, wasn't going to remain the way it was for long after the move was made.

"Heh'go, Miss. Feline." he said after descending the stairs then placing the cat, which he still couldn't get the name of right, down. As of the last week, he was just calling her Miss. Feline—while he knew that Guyunis was annoyed over his calling her that, it was better for him to call her that over his continuously getting her name wrong. The cat gave her tail a flick then went towards the dining room... when she went between the legs of her owner, who was both standing before the dining room and looking right at him, and who probably saw him both carrying and putting her down, he was fast in blinking his eyes.

He had picked up on a few things these past few weeks on Guyunis and one of them revolved around the nicknames that he was called. If Guyunis wasn't called by his actual name, he was called G, Guy, or Guykins; Bile seemed to be the only one to call him Numbskull—which, ironically, was the name that he was heard calling the boy on the night of October 23 and, ironically, was what caused Kuruk and some of the other members of the now defunct Rastatter Rheinaue "alien" camp to think that he was Triskull's son. While Triskull, the second oldest of his older brother's sons, and another nephew of his, was calling and talking to him, he had yet to ask anything on the boy who use to be thought of as his son—his nephew was enjoying the fact of his being able to resume his formerly abandoned life, and was looking forward to this hunting tournament that was to take place in a few weeks. While the others in his family, that he heard from these past few weeks, have asked about Guyunis, he was vague in telling them how he was and how things were going in his becoming acquainted with him.

With Guyunis staring at him the way he was, he figured that he best go forward and use one of the names that he was commonly called.

"Morning, G." he said after coming up then halfway passing the boy.

Except for making a sound deep within his throat, the boy backed away from him then turned and went towards his cat, who he promptly picked up then started "inspecting" for injuries. While he was still sure that it'd take less than six months for the boy to completely cool down around him, and to quit acting like he was out to get him, and to stop thinking that he was a monster, he also knew that he had a ways to go—while Guyunis was starting to grow curious about him, he was still very apprehensive towards him.

After going into the dining room, he went straight to the kitchen then made himself a cup of coffee. He spoke to his wife, then gave her a kiss, then turned to go back to the dining room. Unlike most of the mornings that he and his family had spent under this roof, he found that it was his wife who was making and then bringing the plates to the table. He and his family ate in silence for around half of the meal before any sort of conversation was sparked.

"Take it that we're to try to head out and do Boy Mischief today, boys?" his wife asked the male teenage members that were present at the table.

"As long as the sky doesn't grow a penis, yes." Lazeer was the first to respond to her question.

"Lazeer!" Eshal exclaimed.

"What?" Lazeer smiled before digging his fork into his half-eaten pancake.

"Since it didn't have any balls, can't really call what came from the sky a penis," Bile said.

"If i-k-ts okay with you, mum, I'd like to go ou-k-t and do some hun-k-ting with Bile today." Guyunis said.

"Oh, so when did you, Bile, ask for permission to go out to hunt?" Angel asked her oldest son.

"Bastard beat me to mentioning what I was planning on doing today!" Bile knocked his elbow into Guyunis's ribs lightly, and playfully. "Since it's already out there, may I and may I take Numbskull with me?"

"Yes and the same goes with the both of you—stay inside the shield and come back in one piece."

"Got some plans to take care of today in town then hoping, with your good graces, I can tag-along with Astor and Seth to Molsheim." Lhaklar said.

"France?"

"Yes,"

"What are the three of you planning on doing once you're there?" TazirVile asked.

"Check out the town, and the girls that either live or walk around there, and do some fishing in the Bruche river." Lhaklar replied.

"Absolutely not!" Eshal snapped. Her mother, followed by her father, placed their utensils down then looked at her. "What? With his just saying that he's going there to "check out the girls", he doesn't need to go there."

"It was a joke." Lhaklar said.

"How's mam and dad suppose to know that your "joke" isn't actual intent?"

"Want to call Astor's father? Mr. Bonnaire wouldn't let Astor go to Molsheim if he was planning on fooling around, and the same with Seth's stepfather." Lhaklar said.

"No. Knowing how distrustful your friends are, they probably lied to get their folks off their backs on what they're really hoping to do and, knowing you, you're trying to do the same with ours." Eshal shot.

"Fuck you, man!" Lhaklar said after two minutes of silence occurred at the table.

"Eshal! Lhaklar! That's enough." TazirVile snapped. "Lhaklar, since your mother will be at work, and won't want to be bothered by any sort of trouble that you or your brothers create while you're out and about, think as long as you have something that'll aid me in keeping in contact with you you can go out with your friends."

"Agreed." Angel said.

"As always, I'll have my communicator on me. Frequency ten is what you want for both you and me to be able to talk." Lhaklar said. His voice was very clouded with disgust, which was targeted towards one select individual—his sister.

"Probably stay at home for a while. Use the weights down in "The Cave" for a while, then play a video game or two, before heading out for some fresh air." Hazaar said.

"Hang out with Eli." Lazeer said.

"You're not hanging out with the Kassmeyers today?" Angel asked her youngest son.

"Kiefer has Bronchitis, and Killian's grounded." Lazeer replied.

"Good reason for him to not be hanging around neither today." TazirVile thought.

"Eshal, what're you planning on doing today?" Angel asked her adopted daughter.

"Stay here." Eshal was fast in saying.

"You've been staying inside for a while now, don't you think its time for you to go outside? Meet some people, and make some friends of your own, or check into the town that you and your father will be living near for the next five and a half months?" Angel asked.

"Nope."

"Tazir, take it that you're going to do your usual today?" Angel asked her husband after sighing at her daughter's decision in what she wanted to do today.

"Unless the weather is like it was yesterday, I'll probably leave the house to walk around the back. Afterwards, I'll do some time in the boys' "Cave" before sitting down to my usual perch." TazirVile replied.

"With the exception of Eshal, sounds like we've all got a good arrangement of things to do today." Angel said before returning to her breakfast.

With the exception of her speaking to Eshal, and trying to persuade her into changing her plans for the day, she spoke no more on what was to happen today. She finished her breakfast, then cleaned the dishes that she ate from and with, then collected her stuff and left the house. She was leaving the driveway at the same time that Lhaklar was leaving the house; along with having two regular bags with him, he had his sister following at his elbow. As much as she did hate to admit it, Eshal was starting to worry her. Her daughter, instead of doing as the boys were in going out and making use of her time on the planet, was staying at home too much for her liking. She was also creating more than enough fights in the house. Tazir was doing his side of the "agreement" in keeping at her, and in trying to keep peace in the house while she was away, but she feared that he was turning a blind eye to what was going on with Eshal.

Eshal, from the time she was awake to the time she went to bed, was either writing in her diary, or listening to the music that she purchased while being in the community center, or using her cellular. From what she heard, Eshal's minutes were up on her phone so one of her three interests weren't available to her anymore; she worried that, now that the phone wasn't able to be used, her daughter was going to be extra abrasive with the boys. She really did hope that Eshal would pop out of her shell then start going out and making use of her time; it was going to be a very boring five and a half months if she didn't.

She was slow in driving past the house; after seeing that her daughter had pulled Lhaklar to a stop, then started speaking to him, and was making a few heated gestures while doing so, she came close to both stopping and then turning the car around. She continued on, though. Someone had to bring in money for the family and she did have to be at U-Krop-It on time. After seeing that Lhaklar was pulling up alongside her right when she was stopped at the three-way intersection that was present before their neighborhood, she sighed then raised her hand at him; he signaled that he saw her by waving his own at her then went down the street that he needed to traverse in order to get to the part of town that his unknown business was about to be done in.

Though curious about what he was to do in town, she told herself to trust him and to not worry but so much on what he was doing. Lhaklar, much like her other sons, Guyunis included, knew better than to do drugs or gallivant with the ladies that roamed in or around the areas that they lived in. They could smoke the regular things that a normal, non-drug using person smoked but they couldn't do either of them two other things. After seeing her son going towards the far right side of Elchesheim-Illingen, she went on her way to her workplace; as a way to put some of her conscience at rest over what was going on at home with her daughter and sons, she turned the radio on.

"Hopefully, the weather won't be too bad today. And it won't stop Lhaklar, or his brothers, from doing as they want to." she thought when she was about a mile and a half away from her place of work.


	17. Chapter 17

"Well that was fun," Lhaklar said after sliding into the driver's seat. The item, that he just got through purchasing, was slid into the trunk only minutes before; with there being a set of blankets on top of it, it was good and safe.

"Surprised that he dropped the price like he did for you." Astor said immediately after getting into the BMW.

"Me too, and a good thing because it leaves me with some cash." Lhaklar said.

"Good to blow on Molsheim." Astor said.

"Yes and no—seeing as I need to keep some cash in the envelope for next month's bills and pantry purchases, I can't spend it all while being in Molsheim."

"Grab your dat around the neck then force him to fart out some dough for you guys." Astor said. "That way, you can blow half to nearly all of your paycheck on yourself."

"Nah, I prefer for the family to use most of what I make at work."

"Stingy Green Man!"

"Toughie,"

"And damn proud of it!" Astor said. After saying this, he looked behind him. "I see that you, Seth, aren't doing the hiding game but you, Jarvis, are."

"Just until we start down the A35 motorway." Jarvis said.

"Good thing too—my dat says no contact thanks to my "refusal" to clean the garage." Astor said.

Refusal was light-talk in regards to what he did. Most of the time, the garage was where the unneeded or unsellable items, that were brought into the shop then either lost or sold to his fader, were put. His stepmutter was constantly getting of his fader for how cluttered the building was; his fader, though promising to clean it up, and get rid of what wasn't needed, or couldn't be used or sold in the shop, almost never upheld his promises in that storage space. As of the last few weeks, he was putting it off because of the weather. Just two days ago, he gave him the instruction to clean it out; along with doing a little grumbling over doing the chore, he tried to pull a fast one in imitating his fader's actions in putting it off because of something that was going on "in the hood". Unlike his stepmutter, who seemed to like the empty promises that she was given in regards to that building, his fader hadn't accepted his "refusal". His punishment for the ten minutes of trying to get out of his given chore? Not being allowed to speak or do anything with most of the people that he called his friends.

It was only by hearing that he was to be the one to handle the pawnshop's recently done transaction that he was allowed to go with Seth and Lhaklar to Molsheim. After seeing how "mature" and "professional" he was during Lhaklar's purchase, his fader gave him the signal to go with them.

"Before we hit the A35 motorway, drive over to the small, boarded up shop that's down the road a bit." Astor said after swinging his seatbelt over himself.

"Reason why?" Lhaklar asked.

"Yeah, I left a cooler in it yesterday. Just before them twisters were seen down south of us, I made a trip up this way with it."

"What's in it?" Seth asked.

"The usual." Astor replied.

Of course, none of them needed to know what that meant. Astor Bonnaire Sr. was a fan of drinking Grafenwalder Pils beer and, really, so was his son. Astor Bonnaire Jr., who would pommel anyone who dared to call him Junior anything, had scarfed around a half to a six-pack and a half of his father's beer sometime before taking the trip to the shop that was down the road a ways—his father, who was constantly purchasing and stocking the fridge with the stuff, never connected the dots on why his beer dwindled so quickly. The man consumed somewhere around two beers a night before bed, so he had plenty left in the two six-packs that he purchased each three to four days. While Ada knew of her brother's shenanigans with their father's beer, she never spoke on it—from time to time, she consumed a half-can of the beer that her brother stole from their father's supply.

Ada and Ivonne had decided to spend some time with some of their female friends that day so, it was just the three of them that were going to Molsheim.

Lhaklar did as he was instructed to in driving to where a building that matched his friend's description was. Once he parked before the building, his friend got out; Astor was gone for all of two minutes before reappearing with a hefty, green and white cooler that looked more than a little heavy. Lhaklar was fast in getting out of the car, and in going to the trunk. A spell was done to make the trunk appear bigger than what it really was, which allowed for the item that he purchased to remain unscathed and for the cooler to be put before it. After the cooler was in the trunk, and the trunk's lid was closed, they returned to the car. They were well one their way down the road, and just nearing the A35 motorway, when Astor Bonnaire Sr. stepped out to see if the car was still on the street that his shop was on.

"Is it safe?" Jarvis asked.

"Oh, you still back there? Thought you up and grew chicken on us." Lhaklar said. "We've been going down the motorway for ten minutes now."

"Thanks for letting a man know!" Jarvis shot up like a Jack-In-The-Box.

Though the purpose in using the A35 motorway was to get to Molsheim, they were also hoping to see some of the damage that occurred yesterday, when the tornadoes started dropping from the sky then making everyone get in a bind. Jarvis, while no camera fanatic by any means, had a camera on him that he was planning on using once the damage was seen—it started being put to use right at the thirty minute mark of their trip.

The more smaller of the three tornadoes, that were seen south of Elchesheim-Illingen, was only on the ground for fifteen minutes. Except for the trees, and other foliage that was able to be seen on either side of the road, everything looked in good order. The trees almost looked as if they were snapped in half by the tornado, and there were holes where certain bushes use to sit. Jarvis snapped only a few pictures of the snapped trees, and of the ground being eroded of the matter that use to be on it; when they passed by Renchen, and then Appenweier, Jarvis's camera was more readily used.

Certain bits of the road were yanked up, and certain trees were either debarked or completely yanked from the soil that they grew in. The tornado, that was initially seen near the rather crowded, small city of Renchen before, five minutes later, going right through the city, had created a lot of damage. Due to the section of the A35 motorway that they were driving on being on an incline, they were able to see some of the destroyed buildings and some of the path that the twister took.

One of the schools was halfway demolished while the other looked... very messed up. Some of the business buildings were skeletal in appearance while others looked barely touched. In certain areas, the road was completely ripped up. There were road and community workers all around; the same went for folk of the military and police force. Thanks to the military and police being around, no looting or unrest was happening. Jarvis was particularly savvy with his camera when the two schools were seen, then he went nearly insane after the city's one hospital was seen. The hospital looked unidentifiable. With the outside being gone, and the insulation, pipes, and certain rooms being able to be seen, and with smoke billowing up from the building's wreck, he couldn't help himself in snapping as many pictures as he could.

The city of Renchen had a population of nearly double that of what it was in 2014; with the way things looked, both Lhaklar, Astor, Seth, and Jarvis bet that it was cut in half by the tornado that reeked havoc on it yesterday. It really almost looked like a war-torn city, and a city that either needed serious repairs or to be torn down and then rebuilt from scratch.

"Good God!" Seth exclaimed after they came upon the municipality of Appenweier.

Some two thousand years ago, Appenweier consisted of three areas—Appenweier, which was its main municipal, Urloffen, which was known for horseradish-growing, and Nesselried. The district of Nesselried ran through the Wannenbach valley, while Urloffen was north of Appenweier; while both still did, they were very different than what they were in 2014. In 2304, all three were merged and then came under the name of Appenweier; while horseradish was still grown in Urloffen, it wasn't as abundant as it use to be and most of Nesselried was abandoned after the fourth World War. Of the portion of Nesselried that was still being inhabited by humans, most of it was being used for farming purposes instead of for strictly town or city interests. Other crops were now known to be grown in Urloffen, and a small city was created and then allowed to grow into disarray soon after the third World War in that district.

It was main-town Appenweier that the bigger of the three tornadoes that were spotted yesterday struck. With everything almost being down, and all the smoke billowing up, and the military being all over the place, none of them said a thing about wanting to stay around for long in seeing what the tornado's aftermath was. Jarvis's finger was pretty much stationary over the camera's initiate button; he got more than enough photographs to last a lifetime, and he also got enough photographs to use up the available space that was on his camera. After the clip was all used up, he removed it then replaced it with a new one, which he decided to save until they saw something spectacular, or got to the Bruche river and started catching things.

"What's the biggest tornado on record again?" Astor asked after they went past the destroyed main-town portion of Appenweier.

"Nearly three and a half miles, and that was recorded in the Americas in mid 3075." if not for his storm-crazy little brother, Lhaklar wouldn't know this. "Y'two ever seen Tornado Rampage?"

"No." Astor replied.

"Uh-uh." Jarvis shook his head.

"You should. It was based on the weather system that brought all them tornadoes to middle and lower Kansas on June 5, 3075. My mother was the one who did the special effects for it." Lhaklar explained what the film that he mentioned was about.

"I'll check into it." Astor said. Jarvis nodded his head in agreement.

In all, his mother was accredited to some twenty or so movies. She did the special effects for each of them. The more notable of the films that she was involved in? Well, for the current era humans, that would be Water Works, Shake, Helen Erupts, and Volcano Eruption; the lesser known of her film associations were Tornado Rampage, Tsunami!, HMCS Genesis IV, Blackness, Sea The See, Ke-Rash! , The Thunderstorm War Part 1, The Thunderstorm War Part 2, Chaotic Seas, and The Year Of The Hurricane. The other films that she was accredited to, but were either forgotten or ignored, were either very low-budgeted, or didn't do as well as the ones that were behind them had thought they would, or were complete failures. She had only done the films to gain the revenue for him and his brothers to be able to go to school, and so they wouldn't have to worry about having to miss out on any of the programs, clubs, or activities that their classmates were doing. Their mother was only able to gain the revenue for their educations through the means of exercising her right in asking for the ones who were in charge of the films to let her set her own salary.

Tornado Rampage, Tsunami!, and HMCS Genesis IV were done to gain the revenue needed for Bile's education; she did Water Works for the remaining $55,000 needed for when Bile went off to Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic. Shake was what gave her the required revenue for his tuition at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic. When his tuition was paid, she used what remained of her salary from that film for the family savings, and for repairs that were needed on their old apartment. Blackness and Volcano Eruption were done for Guyunis's initial education while Sea The See, Ke-Rash!, and The Thunderstorm War Part 1 were done for Hazaar's initial education. The Thunderstorm War Part 2 and Chaotic Seas were done for both Guyunis and Lazeer's initial educations while The Year Of The Hurricane was done for Guyunis, who expressed a wish in wanting to go to Goboshu's Academy of Meanness. Helen Erupts was done for him, Hazaar, and Lazeer; after they started showing certain skills in being able to do Telepathy, their mother went to gain the required revenue that was needed for them to go to the University of Telepathy.

He and his brothers were given the education that they needed and, thanks to their mother, they weren't allowed to skip out on the things that their classmates were doing. Their mother was smart in gaining that money for their educations and they more than ever thanked her for the opportunities that she allowed them to partake in when they were in school.

"Dude! Look at the sk... uh-oh!" Jarvis started acting all panicky after noticing that a tornado was starting to drop to their left. The thin rope, that dropped from the green-colored sky, grew in size rather quickly in a span of nearly ten minutes; if they had to make any guesses, it was heading towards being an EF3, which was very powerful. Due to the funnel being both a distance and heading away from them, Lhaklar didn't break out in a sweat about it. While keeping an eye on the tornado's path, he drove towards the bridge that overlapped the Rhine river. He was just starting across the bridge when Jarvis started photographing the tornado, and when his father's voice rang from the left pocket of his cream and brown striped corduroy pants.

"Son? Lhaklar, you available?" his father's gravelly-sounding voice said. He dug his communicator out from the pocket that it was in then pressed the button to talk to him.

"Right here." Lhaklar said.

"Thank the Gods!" his father sounded relieved. "Where are you? Hope its nowhere near the funnel that's heading towards Müllen."

"Just crossing the bridge that goes across the Rhine." Lhaklar relayed. "We're some miles from it, but are keeping a good eye on where its going."

"Alright, as long as you're away from it, you're fine." there was a staticky sound following his father's correspondence, which meant the man turned his communicator off.

"Surprised that I've not heard from my m—" the sudden sound of a cellular going off stopped Seth from speaking. Seth was fast in both digging his cellular out from the pocket that it was in and in answering and talking to who it was that was calling him. It took a total of two minutes for Seth to end his conversation; when he snapped his phone shut, he leaned back then sighed. "Astor, Jarvis, I expect for the both of you to be getting phone calls in the next few minutes."

And they did. Astor Bonnaire Sr. called his son about three minutes after Seth returned his phone to his pocket while Jarvis's aunt called him about ten minutes later. Unlike Astor and Seth, who had a step-parent in their lives, Jarvis had no parents to look after him; both of his parents had gained a type of cancer, which claimed them both and caused him to be both orphaned and be put in the care of his paternal aunt and uncle. Mr. Bonnaire, who obviously wasn't paying any attention to the news, or had any working radios or tv's near him, just asked his son how things were going and where he was before hanging up. Jarvis's aunt was apparently near a tv; she had seen that a tornado was seen near Müllen. She jowled Jarvis for nearly the whole second half of their trip to Molsheim before finally hanging up. Judging by the sigh that Jarvis gave after hanging his phone up, they knew that he was relieved to be off the phone.

"Can someone turn on the radio or something? Music over the news, please." Jarvis said when they were within twenty minutes of their destination.

"Sure." Lhaklar turned the radio on, then searched for a channel, then, once a channel was found that catered to their needs, returned his hand to the wheel.

The last several miles of their drive were peaceful. They listened to the radio, and spoke on who they were hoping to meet and then entertain after getting to Molsheim, then fell into a quiet spell. Their tranquil faces grew rather alarmed right when the outskirts of the commune were seen. It looked like France had also seen tornadic activity. Certain buildings were in disarray; there were certain areas where grass and asphalt was either missing or where the mud was very wet; and there was no mistaking the gasoline smell that was being detected. Jarvis documented some of what they were seeing before putting his camera away—there were cops all over the place where they were; they were ushering people along at break-neck speed.

They drove along after receiving word to do so by one of the on-call cops then, after reaching the middle part of the town, calmed down. While the outskirts of the commune looked tornado ravenged the other parts didn't; if they had to make any guesses, a small tornado just side-swiped the town's south-eastern outside edge. Cream-colored buildings, that had brown trim on them, were on either side of the street; when they drove on for another half-mile, they found that there were certain buildings that moss was allowed to grow on in the town too. The buildings really did give the town an old type of feeling. With the oldest known record on Molsheim dating back to the mid-1600's, where it separated from the Holy Roman Empire and then found itself located on the French side of the border, it really was old. According to the books, between 1871 and 1918, and 1940 and 1944, it was annexed by Germany; another note in the history books claimed that a number of Merovingian tombs, dating from the sixth and seventh centuries, were discovered in 1935 just north of the town, on the Roman road leading from Avolsheim. Most discredited this claim because there was no solid documentation to validate it. If the town was around in the sixth and seventh centuries, then it was one of the oldest known towns to still be around today.

Along with Molsheim being an hour and ten minutes away from Elchesheim-Illingen, both he and his friends wanted to get away from things. Just get away, breathe a little uncorrupted air, and have a good time before having to return to the other side of the river—which, by standards of the country that they were in, they called the Rhein out of respect. After nearly ten minutes of driving, he found a place to park; after the car was parked, he and his friends got out. They walked around, stretching their arms and legs, before going back to the car then meeting up near its trunk.

"Everything'll be safe in there, right?" Astor gestured at the car's trunk.

"With this being a parking lot for a convenience store, and with it being open on three sides, I don't see why nothing wouldn't be." Lhaklar replied.

"Man, let's hope that no one gets in then plays around with taking anything. I'd hate to see what you purchased from Astor's dat get stolen, and I'd hate to see our fishing poles and other stuff being taken too." Seth said after Lhaklar opened the trunk. The many bags, and the four fishing poles and baskets, that littered the floor behind the driver's and front passenger seats, were put in then it was closed up.

"It should be safe." Lhaklar said.

The first two hours of their visit were spent with checking out the ladies, dropping a few flirts, then gaining a date. After their antics with the ladies were done, they returned to the car then grabbed the stuff that was stored in the trunk.

The lake, that was between Mittlere Gebreit and Zichmatten street, was their destination; they got to it in a little under twenty minutes time. According to Astor, the lake use to have a name a long time ago. After the third World War, which caused some of the administrative buildings to become non-existent, the documents on it were lost; nowadays, it was just called the Molsheim Lake. After the Chamydia Plague, which occurred in 3080, the lake was allowed to absorb the two river arms that use to be apart of the nearby Bruche river. Along with being a big lake, it was a better than grand place for them to use as both a swimming hole and a place to fish in. The little storage building, that was to the left of the lake, was where a lot of people went to do drugs or throw parties; they stayed clear of it after reaching the lake. After reaching their destination, they disrobed then jumped in for a swim. They swam and goofed off for about an hour, then took in the oddly green and lush matter that was around them, then got out. Instead of donning the whole of their clothes after leaving the lake, they just donned their underwear; they grabbed their fishing poles, then their baskets, then set to work in getting them ready for use.

"Nice rod 'n reel, man." Seth said after seeing the fishing pole that Lhaklar was nearly done in putting together.

"Thanks, your pole is nice too." Lhaklar said.

"Pervert!" Seth laughed.

"Carbonlite? They any good?" Astor asked after leaning over to see the name that was on the side of his friend's fishing pole.

"As far as I can tell, yes." Lhaklar, who's Carbonlite baitcast rod and reel combo was all ready to go, said before going towards the lake. "Anything good in here, or am I wasting my time?"

"According to my stepdat, who took a trip here with his bruder a few months ago, it's full of something that someone just released on the spree." Seth replied.

"Excellent!" Lhaklar said. He was quiet for all of five minutes; his friends finished with the setting up of their fishing poles then joined him. Up to when the first bite was noticed, none of them moved an inch. "If we don't catch something in here, we throw you in the Bruche river then leave you behind."

"Hot damn!" Astor exclaimed after the reel in his wheel started zipping out, and after his fishing pole nearly bowed in the middle.

Apparently, the humans had the idea that releasing a species of Bichirs, which were a streamlined fish that had ray-like fins, into the lake was a good thing. The fish, which, unlike most of the other fish known to be on the planet, could surface and breathe air, were a predator species that ate small vertebrates, crustaceans, and insects; they had, for the most part, desecrated the natural fish population that was in the lake and had since taken to eating anything that either came to the lake for refreshment or breeding purposes. The fish that Astor reeled in took approximately twenty minutes to land. It was an odd green color on the top but the belly was white; there was a row of fins on its back that were set much like a serrated knife, and it only had pectoral fins on it. The mouth was long; there were two, little protuberances jutting out from the top jaw. Astor was fast in putting his fish, which was close to being thirty inches long, on the ground, beside his basket; after placing his fish down, he re-baited his hook then tossed it back into the water. He was just thinking about taking a seat when Lhaklar's line started zipping.

In the course of three hours, each of them caught six of the same type of fish. Of the four of them, only one kept all of what he caught. Lhaklar, seeing his chance in proving his sister wrong in what she said on her doubting whether he was really going out to fish the Bruche river, decided to keep all of what he reeled in; at around four in the afternoon, he reeled his line in then went towards the river. Like with the lake, the humans also had a brainy moment in releasing several species of fish to several of the European rivers. Bruche was one of the rivers were three species were introduced. After relocating to the river, then throwing his baited hook into the water, he found himself having to suppress a yell—his line screamed from the wheel; he barely had time to push the lever that would prevent the spool from running out.

It took a solid forty-five minutes to land what it was that was on his line. When he finally reeled the fish in, he was exhausted. He decided that seven was enough; five of the six Bichirs would treat the family well for a meal while one of the Bichirs, and the one fish that he just caught, would do well as trophies. He collected his rod and reel, then slung his fish over his shoulder, then started on his way back to his friends.

"Dad's not the only one to be keeping in contact with you while you're gone." he remembered Eshal saying just before he left to go to the pawnshop. His sister had pretty much been at his elbow all while he was collecting his gear and filling his two duffel bags with the stuff that he'd need on his trip; she had tried to stop him in packing an extra set of clothes, and she came very close to snatching and then snapping his rod and reel in half when he was getting ready to leave. After getting all of what he needed for his trip squared away, he wished everyone well then broke his neck to get out of the house. Unfortunately, his sister followed him to the BMW and tried her best to put a big damper in on his day. He had just gotten to the car when she grabbed and then swung him around, and when she said that.

"Back off, Eshal." he recalled saying to her. "I'm making use of my time, and having a good time while doing so, so quit it."

"I bet you'll be having a "good time" in smoking and doing what all you and your friends are planning on doing while going to where you said you're going." Eshal came back. "Just you remember that all that you do will, in time, come back to bite you in the rear."

"Being tired after coming home, and needing a few-hour nap, sounds like a good thing to be bitten in the rear by." he said before putting all of what he had on him in the car.

While he managed to dodge the slap that she was about to deliver, he wasn't able to miss her kick, or promise in spilling what she saw at Scheidgraben. While slightly unnerved by her promise in spilling what she saw at the right tributary that came off the Alb river that ran down from Karlsruhe, he told himself that all would continue to be fine and that his father probably already knew about what happened in that water source—his friends, Ada and Ivonne included, were skinny dipping in the Scheidgraben and he and Guyunis were about to join them when Eshal and her entourage showed up. Eshal and her four "friends" were more after Guyunis than he at the time but, still, he guessed that she might try to use blackmail on him in an attempt to get him to remain home. If anything came from her spilling the beans on what happened on that day, he'd admit to it then say that he and his friends were just being their age and enjoying the water in one of the nearby water sources.

The fact that she said that he'd have no alibis on his activities that day made him smile. If a quick call to Astor and Seth, and the fish that he caught, weren't alibi enough then someone needed to get his or her head examined. With the exception of that one time where his father used his communicator to contact him after the tornado was seen, he hadn't heard anything from either him or his sister—he was allowed to enjoy a day of fun with his friends... which was, sadly, about to come to an end. With it heading on six, he and his friends would need to get their stuff together then go back to the car then start the trip back home.

"Wonder how Bile and Guyunis did in their hunt?" he wondered before returning to his friends, then donning his clothes, then giving the word that they need to get ready to leave.

The hunt, in regards to him and his brother, didn't have all that grand a start. With no game being found in Germany, they split then enjoyed some of their old fetishes before joining back up to give it another try. According to Guyunis, he saw a movie in Elchesheim-Illingen's one theater before deciding to find and then take up some mushrooms. After collecting an untold amount of mushrooms, then sending them home, he went to find where he was. He, instead of finding a film to watch in a theater somewhere, or finding some mushrooms to collect, had looked for and then gained an hour and a half date before hooking back up with him. With the game being so scarce in Germany, a quick call to their mother was made then permission to go somewhere else, where there was game, and where they'd have a more fruitful hunt, was gained. With their going to Asia, then splitting up for about half of their time there, they had a much more successful hunting experience.

Guyunis nabbed a Lesser bird-of-paradise, a Tibetan antelope, and a Colugo. While interested in all of his kills, he was most fascinated by the Colugo. He had plans to look the animal up tomorrow—er, if the weather shaped up and nothing was going on at home, that was. The animal was relatively light built and had long, slender front and rear limbs; its tail was about mid-long. While its head was small, it had large, front-focused eyes and small, rounded ears on it. The multi-gray coloration was nice but what got him was the fact that there were flying membranes extending from the animal's front limbs to the back ones—the animal was just sixteen inches long. It was much too small for a meal; according to Guyunis, he didn't bring it down for that purpose. He was intrigued by it and, after felling it, wanted to make it into a trophy.

He was able to take down a golden-colored Takin, and then a Serow, before finding himself as not being able to find any other game to hunt. Unlike Guyunis, who was hunting with the dual-purpose of catching something for the family and for trophy means, he was hunting just to get out from under the roof that he and his lived in and to bring something home for his family. He was going to keep the horns and pelts from his kills but the rest would be cultivated and then used by the family.

"I'm plannin-k-g on doing as you did with your Mountain G-k-oat and Hartebeest heads," Guyunis said after sending his kills to the house's basement. "The head and neck of my antelope will be severed and then sen-k-t to someone for mounting."

"And the bird?" he asked before they teleported to the house that they lived in.

"Getting it stuffed then put in my room." Guyunis replied.

No more was said between them for a few seconds. A Guyunis-sized cloud of smoke was left in Guyunis's wake after he teleported while a black implosion effect was left in his after he followed in his example. He thought that both he and his brother had picked a fine teleportation effect during their tenure at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic. After appearing before the house, he grabbed his brother by the arm then pulled him to a stop. Unlike he, who was both unscathed and adhered to their mother's instruction in returning to the house in one piece, Guyunis had some injuries to him that needed to be assessed.

According to his brother, when he was going to retrieve the Colugo after it fell from the tree that it was on, he was jabbed by a bush that had more than enough gnarly thorns on it. While all of the thorns were removed from his brother's arm, they made for a bunch of scrapes and scratches to appear that were still bleeding.

"Wha-k-t?" Guyunis asked after being stopped.

"Just looking at your arm." he said.

"Its fine, Bile. Nothing-k but scratches." Guyunis pulled his arm from him then went towards the house.

Before leaving the house, they had both his father and Eshal at their elbows. While his father was adamant on their being careful in what they were planning on doing that day, he also wished them luck; he also asked them if they had everything that they needed for what they were planning on doing and if they had a communicator and what its frequency was. Of the two of them, only he acknowledged him and gave him his communicator's frequency. Guyunis, though looking to want to voice his annoyance over his following him, had remained close-lipped and didn't give his communicator's frequency to him—this had caused the old man to be a little antsy, and verbal, with him but he hadn't pushed the envelope or made a return to how he was last month. If not for him saying that Guyunis was going to stay near him that day, the man probably wouldn't of let neither of them go out.

Eshal had gotten on Guyunis for his not speaking or disclosing the frequency of his communicator. Along with reiterating what he said to the old man on where Guyunis was going to be that day, he stood between her and his brother; she gave him a mean look before stepping to the side then nodding her head towards the door. He didn't need to be told that Eshal's antics with Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer were getting to Guyunis—during their first session in trying to find something to hunt, his brother confided in him about his feelings with their sister; he was right nervous of her, and of her turning on him, and of her becoming like the other sisters that the other "families" that had him over the years had.

During their time spent out of the house, he had heard from the old man twice—once just after nine and again during noon. Correspondence with Eshal was done five times—she was constantly calling to ask what they were doing, if they were doing what they discussed that early morning, and if they were together and okay. He lied on the bit of their being together when they were separated, and on some of the activities that they were doing, but he was truthful with the rest of his responses to her questions. Either the old man came across her bugging him and told her to stop it or she decided to do it on her own accord.

With it heading on six, their mother was home and it was getting very close to curfew. He and his brother went into the house quickly then found themselves being stopped almost immediately after entering the dining room. Their mother, who looked to be manning the stove, had Eshal with her. Eshal, once she saw them, came at them; she about laid an egg after seeing the marks that were on Guyunis's arm. In a way, he wasn't but so surprised over seeing her coming after him about them.

"You go out to do an adult hobby, and take one of your younger brothers with you, and, when you return, the little brother that you took with you to do that dangerous hobby with is injured. I'm not surprised that even you can't be trusted to do anything without adult supervision."

"They're just a bunch of scra-k-tches." Guyunis said after ripping his arm from Eshal's grasp.

"These are not scratches!" Eshal came close to screaming. She lunged for the arm that was full of scratches and scrapes then, once she had it, started showing it off; for Bile, the act of her taking Guyunis by the arm was a bit funny. Eshal's hand, while small and feminine, was made to look ever smaller once it was on his brother's big and well-muscled arm. "You promised! You promised that you and he wouldn't get into trouble, and that you'd be home long before now, and—"

"I don't recall making any agreements on when I or he were suppose to be home." Bile said.

"Take your hand off me!" Guyunis hissed while wrestling his arm free of Eshal.

Before being adopted by his ma, Guyunis was rather reluctant to show any defense towards himself. Whenever it came to anyone getting physical with him, he'd either back off and accept what was given to him or have an episode where he forgot what he was doing or what happened during his going to his own defense. Along with watching him and his brothers, from when they had their own, personal squabbles, and having a talk with their mother on when to show defense, he had learned and learned well on when it was appropriate to defend himself. His adoptive brother, while disclosing his annoyance in having Eshal so close to him, and having her touching him, was acting in his own defense when she started grabbing and then pulling his arm. When Eshal went through with grabbing his arm, then gave him a shove, he reacted by ripping his arm from her then shoving her right back.

Even though he put himself between his sister and brother after the defense-made shove was made, he knew that Eshal wouldn't come forward to touch neither of them again. His mother, who looked none too happy at the moment, strolled over then put an end to what was going on quickly.

"Eshal, that's enough." his ma said after coming between Eshal and him and Guyunis. After speaking to Eshal, she asked for Guyunis to come forward. Along with being compliant in doing this, the expected happened after his brother reached their mother; his arm was picked up then inspected before being released. "I see nothing to grow concerned with on his arm. Like he said, just a bunch of scratches, and scrapes, that can be treated with normal medicine."

"You said for them to not get into trouble, and to not be hurt when they came back." Eshal said after their mother examined Guyunis's arm. "Dad also said for them to be home by noon. After you left to go to work, he said for them to—"

"He did not." Bile said. "He said for us to be careful—"

"Which you weren't!"

"—and he wished us luck on what we were going to do. No word on us needing to be back at a set time was made by either ma or dad." Bile finished what he was so rudely interrupted in saying.

"I can overlook the scrapes and scratches, seeing as boys are almost always coming in with them, and that they're nothing to be overly concerned over." their mother said. After saying this, she turned her attention to the activity that they did that day. "Take it that you two had a good hunt?"

"After calling-k and then getting the word from you on changing-k our location, yes." Guyunis replied before Bile could.

"Since I see no bite wounds, or lack of flesh on neither of you, I'm not going to snap or ask anything else on how your hunts went. Go on and tend whatever you brought in." their mother said. She was fast in retracting some of what she said. "Guyunis, you head to one of the bathrooms and do a quick session in cleaning your arm before going on to getting what you caught squared away."

"Yes, mum." Guyunis turned then went towards the stairs.

"Other than what you told us, we got no other instruction from anyone on what we were to do today." Bile relayed to his mother after Guyunis went towards the stairs.

"Yes you did! Don't try to pull that, Bile. I was there when he gave you the order to be home by noon. Dad gave Lhaklar the same order. Dad's right mad at both of you for—"

"If he is then where is he? If what you say is true then why isn't he here, giving both me and Guyunis a royal ass-chewing for being nearly six hours late in coming home?" Bile asked his sister.

"Bile, Eshal, that's enough." though Angel didn't say anything on it, she believed her son more than her daughter. Upon coming home from work, she found a very happy husband waiting for her; no hint of anger or nervousness was disclosed in the man. If what Eshal had said was true then she would of come home to find the exact opposite in her husband.

Angel told her oldest son to go on to wherever the items that he caught during his hunt were before returning to the stove; while the workday was pleasant for her, her homecoming wasn't so bliss-like. Tazir did as he said he would—along with taking a few, short walks around the house's backyard, he kept an eye on the news and did a few sessions in the boys' cave. According to her husband, a total of four tornadoes were noticed as forming down south and south-east of them; he admitted to calling Lhaklar when one formed near Müllen, then Bile when the Baiersbronn and Ettenheim tornadoes were spotted. The fourth tornado, he claimed, had formed near Tuttlingen. Of the four tornadoes that touched down that day, only two were destructive—the one that struck Müllen did a little bit of damage to the town while the one that struck Baiersbronn caused half of it to be almost completely leveled. Other than them few times in "bothering" their sons via communicator, he left them be; Eshal was what claimed most of his attention that day—he was starting to get both concerned for her and annoyed with the way she was acting.

Tazir, that early morning, said that he wasn't going to be adding more minutes to Eshal's phone, and that she couldn't use his after she went to ask him about it. Despite hearing this, she still, somehow, lifted his phone from where it was and used it. Tazir came in from one of his walks to find her as both possessing and using it; he wasn't very happy with this. Along with taking it from her, and checking who it was that she was calling, he got on her for stealing from him and for disobeying an instruction of his. The three text messages, that Eshal sent out, were sent to two of her friends and to her father's mother. Tazir was fast in sending the three that received her correspondence a message explaining the situation on why she wouldn't be responding to any of their replies and to tell them that Eshal was on "phone arrest" until the start of next month. Following the lift and then use of his phone, Eshal went upstairs to listen to some music. It took her husband all of a couple of hours to discover that she wasn't just listening to music. Apparently, their daughter made a few trips to Hazaar and Lazeer's rooms. All of their CDs were taken and then hidden somewhere, all of Lazeer's models were removed from his ceiling, and their stereos were disconnected from the wall; between doing this, she was bugging Bile with her communicator. Tazir saw to returning all of what was taken from the two rooms, and in returning Lazeer's models to their accustomed places, and in plugging the two stereos back into the wall. After doing that, he got on Eshal for her touching and tampering with things that weren't hers; due, in part, to Eshal's actions in bugging Bile, Tazir decided to leave Bile and Lhaklar be. Tazir had just gotten the rooms fixed to looking the way they were before Eshal came in when Hazaar and Lazeer returned home.

Hazaar, as good as his word, had stayed home to both work-out in the "Cave" and play a few video games. He had his father join him on one of them; though he did give an effort in including Eshal in the playing one of the games that he played, he wasn't successful in getting her to do so. Hazaar also watched a disc from his DVD set, Screamers, while being home. Eshal waited before he left to get some fresh air to make her rounds of his and Lazeer's rooms. According to Lazeer, his plan of hanging with Eli followed through—her son's friend was, apparently, with her son when he came in, which validated the claim of what her son did that day.

Following the discovery of what she was doing while being upstairs, Eshal decided to man the stove. Instead of making an appetizing grilled cheese sandwich, something that her father taught her how to make fairly recently, she came close to setting the kitchen on fire—Tazir took care of the issues in the kitchen, and in making her the meal that she wanted to consume. Eshal spent the rest of the day in the living room, with her arm, and head, propped on the side of the sectional; she was bored and Tazir knew this but any attempt on his part to get her to go outside for some air and exercise was for nothing.

Following her return from work, Eshal started following and jowling her a mile a minute. Eshal was bored and she feared that she was trying to take it all out on her brothers, who were just as innocent as could be. Seeing as Eshal wouldn't leave the house, or find anyone to be friends with for the duration of their stay on the planet, the only thing that she could think of to keep her entertained was getting her to help her with the house chores, and baking. After getting home, she did a load of laundry, then the dishes and floors; Eshal helped with all of that, and she was happy all while she was doing them. During the making of the Swiss roll, which would be that night's meal's dessert, she found that Eshal was less involved in helping her. Eshal, for the most part, just watched as she put the ingredients in the bowl then put and took the cake from the oven.

"Except for Lhaklar, everyone's home and accounted f—" she started to think while returning to the stove.

 _Ring! Ring!_

"Tazir! Can you get that, please?" she called to her husband, who she knew was in the living room.

"I'm on it." her husband called from the room that he was in. It was a short few minutes before he rounded the corner; the phone was both answered and to the side of his head. "I'm near your mother now and will pass along your message, just stay safe and don't get into any accidents while you're on your way home, please."

The phone was hung up, then placed on the counter. It was a little while before her husband addressed her on who it was that called and on what the message that was meant to be passed off to her was.

"According to Lhaklar, he's stuck in traffic in France and won't be able to be home before curfew." her husband relayed.

"And, due to his having two humans in the car with him, he can't teleport." Angel said.

"Yeah, that was the other half of his message."

"I'll let his missing curfew slip this one time." Angel said.

"You shouldn't do that. Mam, instead of letting him miss curfew, you should call him back then say for him to drop the two humans that are with him off somewhere then teleport home." Eshal said.

"Them boys that are with him are in their teen years, Eshal. It wouldn't be right for him to leave his friends, or a bunch of teenagers, on the side of the road." Angel said.

"Mam..." Eshal drawled.

"Eshal, stop it. Your brother has a good excuse to be late for curfew." Angel said. The look, that she gave her daughter, was all that was needed to set that matter straight.


	18. Chapter 18

Though some of Lhaklar's explanation for being late for curfew was based on truth, being stuck in traffic wasn't the actual cause of his being nearly two hours late in coming home. His brother, who spent most of the day in France, was actually talked into being late by one of his friends. Along with drinking what was brought with them, and speaking of how their day went, they did a turn in shopping for souvenirs in the town that they spent the day in. Honestly, with the fish that they caught, none of them should of concerned themselves with finding a souvenir—while he thought this silently, Eshal didn't. His sister was quite vocal on how she thought their brother conducted his day. If not for their father checking into the traffic that led from Molsheim to the German side of the Rhine river, they wouldn't of believed a bit of Lhaklar's tale on his being stuck in traffic—a tornado, that was both very nearly invisible and undetected for most of its cycle, had taken most of the road that spanned from the bridge that Lhaklar and his friends took to get to France. With this piece of information being discovered, they had no choice but to believe Lhaklar's simple, innocent tale of being stuck in traffic—still, though, a few hours after supper was eaten, he followed his brother to his bedroom then asked him for the truth on what happened; even though he was told all of what happened, he didn't squeal on Lhaklar for his pulling a fast one. He just smiled then said _well, least the tornado didn't cause the road to be completely removed from where it was placed_. He and his brother went their separate ways after the full scope on the tardiness was explained.

Eshal either disregarded what their mother said in letting Lhaklar miss curfew or took it upon herself to become the "woman" of the house. Once their brother stepped foot in the door, then announced that he was home, Eshal came bounding over to him like a mother Tiger. She laid it on the line fast on his being home late, and on how he should be ashamed of himself for missing curfew, and on his breaking the phantom instruction that the old man gave them in being home before noon. Lhaklar, though being very confused about the phantom instruction that their sister continued to throw around, had stuck to his story in being stuck in traffic and in his phoning their parents to tell them that he was going to be late in coming home because of it. If not for the old man coming around the corner, Lhaklar would of received a slap to the face; the string of fish, his fishing pole and basket, and the two bags that he had on him would of also been grabbed and then thrown to the floor—their father, along with preventing that from happening, was fast in putting to bed the issues on the phantom instruction that their sister decided to invent during their time away from home.

After getting the matter with Eshal squared away, the man helped Lhaklar in taking some of what he had to the kitchen. While they and their parents were oogling the odd fish that their brother came back with, and while Eshal took a seat at the table then got a right bored look on her face, Lhaklar spell-sent his fishing pole and basket to their underground storage then went upstairs to stash his two bags in his room. After the bags were placed in his room, he stole out of the house; when he came back, he had a right big thing with him that he damn near broke his neck in both concealing and taking up to his room.

Most of Lhaklar's Bichirs had a two-tone coloration to them—their top half was an odd green color, with gray intermingling in specific areas, while their lower halves were white—but two were right colorful. Except for the longer and more robust of the Bichirs, Lhaklar gave the word for all of them to be used in their mother's cooking. One of the non-green and white Bichirs had a leopard-like appearance to its coloration, and was a light brown and cream color; the one that Lhaklar kept with the intent of getting it stuffed as a trophy had black and white stripes on it. Along with having pectoral and back flippers on it, it had a row of very tall, and sharp, ray-like fins on its back. Most of the other fish had either damaged or short ray-like fins and only one pectoral fin and no back flippers.

"What is that!" Lazeer exclaimed after the four-foot long, silverish-white fish was removed from the rest of the catch.

"It looks to have a trap-door mouth on it." Hazaar said after the fish was looked at by everyone who was interested in it.

"Trap-door mouth, son? Looks more like a large scoop to me." their father said.

The freshwater bony fish, which was known as a Silver arowana, and was known to be a primary resident in South American rivers but was released in certain European rivers some years ago, wasn't for eating. Along with having large scales, and a long body, with a tapered tail, it had a dorsal and anal fins that extended to the small caudal fin, which they were nearly fused with. Lhaklar claimed to of done battle with the fish for forty-five minutes; he did look it—after getting everything that was in the car in the house and squared away, he sat then did nothing for the rest of the day.

Their father was more than approving of the two fish that were desired to be kept and then made into trophies and, in fact, he made appropriations for them to be sent to the man who he did business with on Moas—after hearing that the fish were wanted as trophies, then getting the word on his being allowed to remove them from the building, he called the man who stuffed his own assortment of animals that he desired to keep as trophies then sent the fish and the payment for them to be preserved to him.

Eshal became a bit more lively after the smaller of Guyunis's three kills were brought up. While their father was interested in the Colugo, Eshal was more than interested in the Lesser bird-of-paradise. If not for their mother, Eshal might of caused a minor fight to occur between her and Guyunis over the bird—the thirty-two inch bird was a male; with it having a mostly maroon-brown coloration, with a yellow crown and brownish-yellow upper back, and a dark emerald-green throat, and a pair of long tail-wires that were adorned with ornamental flank plumes that were a deep yellow color at their base, which faded to white on the outside, it was a rather colorful bird. Eshal was more than open in wanting to have it for her own but their mother was quick in saying that whatever was caught by "the boys" was theirs and theirs alone and that only they had right in giving them to someone else or having her make a meal out of them. Seeing as Eshal was so interested in the bird, he made the suggestion that he got to where he and Guyunis went to hunt and then get her one of them—his parents were okay with this being done while Eshal was esctatic over the suggestion being made.

"Seeing as we brought back so much from our activities, ma made us a meal from my Serow on that night." Bile thought before teleporting to where he wanted to go.

During lunch on the following day, they had sandwiches that had the Serow's meat in it. The main meal of June 20 consisted of the leftover bits of the Serow, and the meat that was collected from Guyunis's Tibetan antelope—his brother was the one who collected what he wanted as a trophy from that animal; he also collected the meat and organs from it too. Lunch, on the twenty-first of June, consisted of whatever they wanted to consume of the antelope's leftover meat; the main meal of that day consisted of Lhaklar's fish. Breakfast and supper, on the following day, was of the meat that was collected from his golden-colored Takin—which he took to the liberty of collecting what he wanted as both a trophy and meal.

After working the pelt and horns from his Serow and Takin, he cleaned them up then let them hang to dry for a bit. He personally saw to spell-sending them to his father's mansion on Moas. Guyunis, instead of letting their father touch or send any of his kills to the mansion, retained the wish of wanting to send what he wanted to keep as a trophy to someone in town who was a taxidermist.

He upheld his suggestion in going back to Asia; the day following his and Guyunis's hunt, he collected a male of the bird that Guyunis nabbed then came home to show it to the one that it was retrieved for. Eshal was immediately enthralled with what he caught and was more than verbal in wanting their father to send it to the man who he sent the other desired trophy items to.

The tornadoes stayed down south of them on the twentieth then, on the following two days, they came up closer. For the most part, they spent most of the twenty-first and secondth either in the living room or the room that came off the basement. They had a cold spell on the twenty-third. Today's weather was appropriate for the month that was going on; thanks to it, they were all out and about, doing what they wanted to for Guyunis's upcoming birthday. Except for their father, who had business to take care of on Moas, they all left the house—this included Eshal, who was mostly ordered to go with either he or Lazeer that morning.

Seeing as he hadn't visited the place in a while, he decided to go to the dump that was located in Au am Rheim. Since Eshal decided to hang with him that day—she was very vocal in saying that she didn't want to hang around "fart-boy", aka Lazeer, who seemed to be having either a bad case of the farts or was doing his best to be funny and gross everyone out at breakfast, so it was him by default that she was to hang out with. Instead of telling her where he was going, and where he was taking her, he grabbed her by the arm then teleported; she was fast in wrenching free of him and in taking a step back after their destination was achieved.

"Uh-uh! No way—neither you nor I am hanging around this place." his sister said immediately after seeing where she was. She made as to grab him, then teleport them to somewhere else—back home, perhaps—, but he prevented her from grabbing and then taking them to that location.

"Suits me fine on what you want to do while standing by the entrance." he said as he went towards the dump.

"Bile! Daddy wouldn't want none of us near this disgusting, and bacteria-leaden, place." Eshal said while following at his elbow. "Let's go to a better place that's not so bacteria-filled, and that smells a lot better than this."

"We'll be fine while being in here." Bile said.

"You're not going in there!" Eshal stepped before him then held her arms out like a basketball player that was trying to block the opposing team's members from getting past. He looked at the sky then went around her.

"Sure I am. You may do as you wish while waiting for me, Angus, and Aubin to come out."

A phone call was made before he and his sister left the house. Angus, along with saying that he'd meet him at the dump that was in his lived-in town, had said that he'd bring some of their friends with him—Aubin's name was clearly heard on his end but he wasn't sure if Franziska and Abelle were coming too. With his not seeing hide nor hair of his friends for a while now, he thought that it was a better than opportune time to do so and to also engage them in checking the dump for what was thrown away in the last few days.

With the weather being the way it was, and with his being slated to be removed from the planet in the next couple of months, time was precious in both participating in what he liked to do while being out of the house and in hanging around the people that he befriended. Though wanting to bring the subject up, he had just not done so—he hoped that, when the move was made, he and his brothers would be allowed to continue being friends or have some sort of contact with the people that they befriended. While Angus, Aubin, Abelle, and Franziska were human, and weren't immortal, and would mature into being adults faster, and have a less-long life than he and his siblings, he would still like to keep them as being his friends for a while before adulthood and then eventual, normal death came to claim and then push them away.

It sometimes sucked being immortal. He and his siblings, unlike the humans, matured a lot slower and were destined to live for a very long time—for forever, if no plagues, natural disasters, or some other event came around to take them, that was—and they had seen a lot of the people who they've befriended over the years mature into adults and then distance themselves from them. Adult friends and activities took the place of them, as did the act of their growing old and haggard and then succumbing to their cycle. It was strange that the humans, being as old as they were in the Universe, had yet to achieve or be gifted immortality and it was also strange that they hadn't been gifted the knowledge of powers too; he had not once asked or wondered aloud why the Gods had yet to give the species them two gifts and he had no intention to, since he already knew the answer to them questions. The Gods would, when they felt it right, give the human race the gift of immortality and powers; until then, the species would go on as they are.

"Bile... Bile, come back! Bile..." Eshal called at his backside. He ignored her as he went into the dump, then started looking for stuff to take home, clean up, then either keep or sell for a profit.

The dump in Au am Rhein wasn't all that bad. It was halfway organized, so it wouldn't give dump-junk collectors, sifters, and treasure hunters all that bad a headache. It was disgusting but that could be explained by it being a plain, old, simple dump. The dump, which was situated on one of the municipality's hills, was a small one by "dump standards". It had a reach of maybe half a mile in either direction and it had several thin channels dug in and around it that chemicals and waste-water flowed through freely. Despite it being halfway organized, one was still required to be careful while searching its heap for things that were decent, halfway decent, or could be taken apart and then used in certain projects.

Naturally, he steered clear of the piles that had nothing but rotten produce, clothing that looked more than ripped or well-worn, and appliances in them. No one wanted to run the risk of getting lock jaw, or a bad infection, after fooling around with the matter that was in them. The piles that consisted of boards, pieces of furniture that had seen better days, and items that had hardware in or on them were also given a wide berth. Lying close to the dump's entrance was an old, beat-up couch and chair that looked to harbor more than their fair share of rodents. A rather dusty-looking, but decent in appearance, bedroom set was to his left and about twenty feet away—he stayed clear of this too, since it might also be a nest for the area's present rodents, or for any matter of insects that would love to tear a person's fingers off.

The pile that he found and then started sifting through was about fifty feet from where Eshal stood. After taking the plunge, he found something that would do good for either Lhaklar or his father. The rust-brown, bootie-style shoes had a two-inch heel and a side zip on the side; they would fit one who wore a size eleven so they wouldn't really be able to fit on Lhaklar's feet, which were known to be average in size. From what he could tell, Lhaklar wore a size eight and a half in normal shoe and a nine and a half in boots; unless a spell was done to make what he found shrink, the booties wouldn't be a good fit for his average-sized feet. A pair of purple, microsuede boots with decorative fringe and inside zip closure was what he found next—Eshal, who was still by the entrance, made a sound like she both saw and was interested in them so he put them to the side for her. When he found three shirts, all polyester made, but one being gold, another purple, and the third fuchsia, the same thing happened so he repeated his action in setting them to the side. After finding a red, burgundy, and white striped tie, a gray and white striped tie, and a bronze striped tie, and then a light brown coat, that had a full-zip front and four buttons on it, and that had two pockets and a polyester lining in it, he left the pile then moved on.

No one wanted to dig in one pile for long. It was good to move on for variety purposes, and to also not deplete what was in that pile. Other people might want to sift through and then claim what was in it too, after all.

He was just about to start in on his second pile when the sound of someone coming towards him was heard. At first, he thought it was his sister, who finally decided to come in and see what she could find, or watch him as he found stuff, then, after the voices were heard, he knew that it was his friends instead.

"Well, I'll be if our homie isn't here." Angus Behrends, the nineteen year old that he befriended last September, said after approaching him.

"Homie? More like Two-Tone freak with a good knack for finding stuff." Aubin Paternoster, a freshly made nineteen year old who had red hair and brown eyes, and a scar that ran across his right cheek, said after seeing and then looking through the stuff that his friend found.

"We should scarf everything that you've found—you got here before us and got the chance to clean everything out. No fair." Abelle, Aubin's year-younger sister, who had brown hair and eyes, said.

"Dibs! Dibs! Hands off the merchandise before I become like one of them fighting bulls that are run through the streets of Mexico." Bile said jokingly.

"Who's that?" Franziska Beyersdorf, a rather beautiful, eighteen year old girl, who had long flowing, blonde hair and green eyes, asked after taking note of Eshal, who was still at the dump's entrance.

"My sister." Bile said. "Along with saying that she'd rather hang out with me today, she refuses to come in."

"Shame. She'll miss out on finding stuff, then." Franziska said.

He and his friends spoke for a little while; topics on his sister, on how things were at home, on Guyunis's upcoming birthday, on how his father was faring, and on how many necks were busted or broken during the periods where the tornadoes were seen as forming either close-by or down south of them were discussed before they started looking for things in the dump's many piles.

He found a lot of stuff in the pile that he was currently looking through for Eshal. He was quite sure that she'd enjoy the enameled boxes—a Pegasus, Warmblood, Haflinger, two Paints, an Arabian, a white horse that was covered in dark spots, a buckskin, a draft, a light-colored horse that had twigs and holly in its brown mane and tail, a Donkey, and a foal—that he found for her. Each of the boxes were between four and five inches in size and had crystal accents and gold trim on them—each looked right up her alley, which was why he kept them instead of calling either Abelle or Franziska over then asking if they wanted them. He was also quite sure that she'd like the light brown, faux suede, fringed scarf that he found in the pile too, so he kept and then put that in with the stuff that he found. Though it was a struggle, he decided to go on and let her have the pair of medium-brown, faux leather, fringe-style boots that he found before deciding to move on to another pile—initially, he wanted to give those to his mother but, seeing as he did have to treat Eshal a little, he decided to let her have them instead.

"If only I'd find a unicorn to go with them boxes—make a complete set for her or something." he thought after spell-sending all of what he found to the room that he and his brothers made last year.

Well, he might not of found her a unicorn to go with the enameled boxes but he did find several others to join what he found. With the humans being the way they were in throwing things out, he was fast in deducing that one of them threw a complete, or near-complete, set of equine-based enameled boxes away. He found a bronze Arabian, a chunky palomino, a chunky brown horse, a black Thoroughbred, a white horse that was rearing, a mahogany mare with foal, a gray Andulusian, and a black and white Gypsy in the pile that he relocated to. Except for some, each had gold trim and crystal accents on them; of the ones that didn't have that, pewter accents and gold trim were present. A bronzish palomino horse sculpture, that was rearing, was found next before the pile's pickings started ebbing low; he spell-sent all of what he found home then resumed his search of the dump.

No other advertisements that showed "weird-handled" knives had come in the mail recently but he was always keeping an eye out for them. The knife that he found in the third pile that he plundered was interesting; he gave it a thought about keeping it for himself. While the blade was Damascus-made, it had an onyx grip that had gold and plain red designs on it. After a few minutes of thinking it over, he decided to let Guyunis have it—it'd be a good thing to give him on his birthday. A ten-inch long cable knife was found next, which he also decided to give to Guyunis, then a knife that had a snake-like handle that was nothing more than a reworked rebar was found. Unlike the other two knives, he decided to keep it. After finding the final knife, he found no more. He moved to the next pile after the pickings in the third one became a little dry; during the move to the next pile, he saw that his sister was coming towards him. From all appearances, it looked like she had her communicator in her hand and was about to use it.

"Daddy," she confirmed his figuring after stopping before him. After giving him a mischievious look, she pressed her finger to the communicator's initiate button. "Daddy, you there? I need to talk to you."

"Eshal, unless this is important, make it quick. I'm right busy right now." his father's voice rang through the communicator's one speaker rather clearly.

"It is. Bile dragged me to the dump in one of the nearby towns. He's getting rather filthy, and is doing more than plain looking at what's around." his sister relayed. He rolled his eyes then returned to searching through the pile that he relocated to.

"According to your mother, your brothers do as I believe he is quite often. As long as he cleans himself up, and doesn't get any infectious cuts to himself in the impending days to come, he's fine."

"Daddy...!" Eshal very nearly exclaimed. "This place is disgusting, and he's hanging around these four humans who look very bad-news too."

"I trust your brother to know bad company, Eshal. Unless it's dire, don't use your communicator to contact me. I'm right busy, and need some time to get unbusy, okay?"

"But, daddy..."

"Okay, Eshal?"

She said okay then returned her communicator to her purse, which was where she got it from. Along with not being able to fathom the idea of the oldest of her brothers bringing her to this horrid place she couldn't believe that there were two girls actively looking through the rank piles that only the Gods knew possessed. The blonde-haired girl had a very petite body; her breasts were small, but visible, and she had a very pretty face. With her purple and "silver" shirt, light brown, knee-length skirt, and dark brown boots, she definitely didn't look to belong in this filthy place. Seeing that she was looking through the piles of junk that lie here and there, at almost every corner, or at nearly every twenty or so yards, was shocking.

The brown-haired girl looked to have an athletic body build on her. Going by the style of her clothing, she thought that she was leaning more towards being a tomboy than a girlie-girl. The jeans were plain, the blue shirt had short sleeves and a normal-set neckline, and the shoes were white and black and were, without a doubt, sneakers. While the shock was there in regards to her being in the dump, and searching through its piles of junk, it wasn't as prominent as the one that was being felt over the other girl in the group.

She had yet to get a good look at the filthy and redneck-looking boys that were with her brother. The one with the red hair looked to be around five foot, eight inches while the one with the brown hair looked to be nearly six feet tall. The one with the brown hair was wearing a greasy, grimy, white t-shirt and dirt-encrusted black jeans; his shoes looked to be in equal disarray. The red-haired boy was wearing a shirt that was lacking both of its sleeves and looked rather dusty; his blue jean shorts were all patched up and in tatters on the hems and, from her vantage point at the dump's entrance, his black shoes looked about ready for the trash. This was the crowd that Bile hung around with? This redneck, uncouth group of boys and a tomboy-looking girl and a girl who looked more appropriate around others of her gender who were girlie-girls? She couldn't believe it and, honestly, she didn't want to either. First, she finds that Lhaklar has a bunch of dirty and distrustful friends and now she finds that Bile has a bunch of redneck friends, what next?

Some of the things that her brother had found had gained some interest in her. She was looking forward to seeing them—after they were clean, of course—but she wasn't looking forward to seeing the rest of what he found. She wished that he'd stop what he was doing, then collect her and go home; she could think of so many other things to do other than being in this disgusting, offending place. The act of her calling her father, then telling him what Bile was doing, was only done with the hope that he'd drop what he was doing then come over to put an end to this. She hadn't expected for her father, who was such a respectful and clean man, to let what was going on to happen and she had definitely not expected for him to say for her to not call him again unless it was very important.

Bile, as a child, was a rather rowdy and boisterous thing; at one time, after he, the rest of her brothers, and their mother were found and then returned to Moas, she was afraid of him because of his size and strength... while she was no longer scared of him, or of the rest of them, she did worry that he was heading in the wrong direction. These friends of his were a good example of the direction that he was headed towards. As a child, Bile had more composed, but still boyish, friends; as a teenager, he had friends that looked like trouble.

"Get him and my other brothers off the planet, and away from the crowds that they're hanging around, and they'll shape up." she thought.

While she was fine with staying with her family on Earth for a while in April, she was no longer fine with it now. She had seen too much of what her brothers hung around, and heard too many alarming things that they did while being out of the house; she had worried herself too much on them to be fine with the stay being as long as it was. Being bored, and having nothing to do to the side, it was her brothers, and the way they handled themselves and their outside time, and in what they befriended, that made her want to speed time along so they could get back on Moas and then have all the alarming things trained out of the ones that they were habitually wired into. The smoking, the hunting, the filthy, distrustful, and redneck-looking friends, the act of being out of the house for nearly all day, the cursing, the listening to music that was hurtful to one's image and ears... it all needed to go. The only way that could be done was if they moved back to Moas and fast.

"If I knew Time Warp, like daddy does, I'd be able to make time go faster so that could happen." she thought before starting to follow her brother around, and before trying to prevent him from doing what he was.

Bile was the older of her brothers, so he should be acting the most mature of them, she thought. Having company like he did, and going out to hunt without a parent around to supervise him, and going to and then searching through dumps shouldn't be done by someone who was the oldest of his brothers. Lhaklar, though younger than Bile, should also be acting in the same sense—while he was the more mature of his brothers, she thought that he was too mature, and that he had a mouth that he just loved to run, and that he was too pushy and controlling. Hazaar and Lazeer were acting almost like they should—it was the temper thing, and the fact that they were acting like they were spoiled rotten, that she thought they shouldn't be exhibiting. Guyunis seemed to be between her brothers. She was also shocked over the fact that her mother, the woman who she grew up as knowing as a maternal figure, and that she still regarded as her one and only mother, was allowing for what was being exhibited in her sons to go on. As much as it pained her to think, she did believe that a lot of her brothers' problems came into being because of their mother allowing them to.

"Hey, Bile!" the brown-haired boy, who she was now close enough to notice a few things on, said. Along with having a long face, he had blue eyes; to her, this boy didn't seem to be all there upstairs. There was something in his eyes that said he was either not very smart or didn't have all of his plugs plugged in.

"Angus?" her brother called in the boy's direction.

"Need or want a dildo?" the boy said.

"Angus, man, ask one of the girls that question instead of me, please." Bile made a face.

"It's all nice and slimy..." the boy went on. "Might have week-old cum on it."

"Don't be putting your hands anywhere on me after you've touched that." Bile, and the red-haired boy, said in unison.

Something that looked like one of them guns that police used to evaluate a driver's speed was pulled from the pile that her brother was searching through. She was momentarily stunned to prevent him from taking it from the pile, or putting it to the side—while Bile spoke on what the item was, then said something about Hazaar having an interest in it, she didn't hear him. It was the discussion on the discovery of a dildo, and of her brother's "friend" talking about the liquid stuff that came from a mature woman's vagina after she got really, really excited, that caused her to forget where she was and what her brother was doing. If things like dildos, a machine that nasty women used to stimulate themselves with, were being discussed among her brother and his friends then there was a hurried need for her whole family to be relocated to Moas.

She considered calling her mother, and then telling her where she and Bile were, and what Bile was doing, and what his friend found, and on what the both of them had discussed. Not even Baruk, one of her father's younger nephews, and Gaajah, her father's younger brother, knew what a dildo or that nasty liquid was—Bile, at his age, shouldn't know what neither were yet he discussed the items like he did know what they were, which gave her the idea that he did something that revolved around the things that adults do in the bedroom. She was disgusted with the conversation that she just heard and she more than ever wanted her brother out of the area and on Moas.

"Dude! This is in near-mint condition!" her brother said after moving to another pile of junk then digging out a small, twenty-one and a half inch tall table lamp. The lamp had stained glass, and a shade that looked to have purple studs and gem-like glass cabochons, on it; while she liked and wanted to give it a closer look, she forced herself to both retain her composure and stay away. Her brother set the lamp to the side, then looked at her, then went back to the pile that he was searching through.

"What are you planning on doing with all of what you're finding?" Eshal finally asked her brother.

"Clean it up, then give some of it to my family. The stuff that's not wanted by the ones in my family is to be sold." her brother automatically replied. The Elephant sculpture, that had cracked glass, amber-colored beads, and was rather beautifully embossed, looked pretty; she was enticed by it for a few seconds before drawing her eyes from it.

"You're wasting your time. People want stuff that's in boxes, and that's sold in a store, or somewhere where the merchandise is more presentable. They wouldn't want anything that's been found in a dump." Eshal tried to sound reasonable but, in the end, she sounded more like a mother hen that was about to go crazy on the one who dared to touch her chicks.

"I've sold several of the things that I've found in the area's dumps, so I know that's not true." her brother returned.

When the butterfly/flower tree, that had fiber optic lights set in the center of the flowers, was found, she couldn't help herself in going forward to look at it. Bile let her examine it, and he even offered to let her hold it; while she gave it a good looking over, she refused to take it from him. When she voiced her desire in wanting it, he nodded his head then said the spell that'd send it home. In a way, it was the lamp that broke her resolve; she went towards the pile that was beside the one that her brother was looking through then started sifting through it.

A set of pink, purple, light blue, and light green petite rose decor pillows were found. The stained glass lamp, that was found next, was nearly the same as that of what Bile had found earlier. It was shaped like a vase but the flared top was styled to look like flower petals and leaves; it had a lot of flower-like designs on it and the stained glass was done in many red, pink, and purple hues. She thought that the ornate curling leaf base, that was bronze-like in appearance, went well with the piece. Before her good senses kicked in, and she backed away from her activity, she found three other things.

Two, she automatically decided, were for her mother's adopted son. When she called Bile over, then showed him the larger of the two pieces that she found, he said that it was an "honest to goodness Nightmare Before Christmas cuckoo clock". While she didn't know what that was, she knew that it was a good find. She placed it among the other things that she found then showed Bile the other items that she came across. Bile, though not as interested in the Australian opal and diamond ring, was interested in the poster that had a living chicken sitting beside a store-bought, and cooked, chicken that had a pirate-like skull sitting on its neck and head-less body.

"He'll like them two things." Bile said after spell-sending all of what she found home. "Should be proud of yourself, E. Took the plunge, found some stuff, became involved in what everyone else is doing, and had fun while doing so."

"Yeah and now I'm regretting it." Eshal, who was looking at her greasy, grimy, and sticky upper arms and hands, said. "Can we go now? I need a shower, and so do you."

"You may." Bile dug in his pants pocket for his set of keys; once they were in his possession, he tossed them over to Eshal. "Me and my friends are to hang out for a while longer."

Even though she caught his set of house keys, she refused to go home on her own. Eshal looked at what he gave her then crossed her arms; she gave him one hell of a sly look, which he took just one glance at before gazing at the sky. After seeing her silent refusal to go home on her own, he told his friends that he was leaving the area for a few minutes—except for Angus, who asked why he was leaving, everyone said okay. After nodding his head at his sister, they teleported to the house then went towards the door. Their mostly quiet, and pleasant, return home was shattered after they reached the door—Eshal, who still had his keys, refused to use them. After taking them from her, he pushed the one that went to the front door into the appropriate slot then stepped to the side. Even after the door was open, and was more than warmly inviting her into the abode that it went to, she didn't go in—that same, sly look was received, as was its message; he decided to play to its not-so-secret desire. A small, white lie was done then he led the way to the house's interior.

His sister, he was quite sure, smiled broadly after seeing him going into the house. She followed at his backside then, as if the issue needed to be carefully taken care of, she closed and then locked the door. While he led her to the hallway that had the downstairs closet and bathroom on it, he knew that she wasn't to use the bathroom that was on it—once she went past, then started going up the stairs, he took advantage of her by not only turning about but by tearing down the hallway then out of the house. His sister, while able to shout _no, Bile_ at his backside, wasn't able to catch or prevent him from leaving the house; once he was outside, he teleported back to where he was earlier.

Once he was back at the dump, he went towards his friends, who had small piles of stuff that they found, and who looked about ready to leave the area. He gave them the signal that all was fine on his end before any sort of verbal communication was done.

"She's younger than you, right?" Aubin asked while they were leaving the dump.

"No. She's older—has three hundred years on me." Bile replied.

"Doesn't act it." Abelle said. "While I was looking through the piles that were around me, I noticed that she was doing a lot of pacing before the entrance."

"When she finally decided to come in, I noticed that she was both following and trying to play snatch with your arms and elbows too." Angus said.

"She was very reluctant to become involved in the fun," Bile replied. "And she's been raised differently than me and my brothers. Think it'll take a while for her to understand that me and my brothers are different than her and that we're not going to be like what we were when we were kids."

"How were you and your bruders like before your mum moved you here?" Aubin asked.

"Restrained." Bile answered. "If I have to put a word to it, we were very restrained in what we were allowed to do."

They went to the little ice cream, smoothie, and milkshake parlor called Uhlala, which was right beside the car dealership where the BMW was purchased from, for smoothies then caught a movie before going their separate ways. When he returned home, the door was found to be unlocked; after going in, his sister, non-surprisingly, jumped on him for both "sneaking off" and "putting a big scare on her". After saying them two things, she hussled him upstairs for a shower—while he let her follow him up the stairs, he refused to let her go anywhere near the bathroom that she wanted him to be in. Once he was in the bathroom, he locked the door—so to get some privacy, of course. When his shower was over, he left the bathroom then went straight to his bedroom. A pair of black jeans, a dark red t-shirt, that had a single tear in the chest area, but that was pretty much lacking a neckline, and a pair of dark red socks were donned before he grabbed the pair of boots that he was wearing earlier from the bathroom, where they were left last. Once he was clean, and dressed, he went down to the "Son Cave" to clean what he and his sister found at the dump.

Things were calm and peaceful in the house for the next several hours. He cleaned his and Eshal's discoveries, then set what Eshal found to the side, then carted all of what he found to either his bedroom or the attic. When his father came home, he showed him the items that he thought he'd have an interest in—rather interestingly, the man wasn't all that keen on the bootie-style shoes; he was interested in the ties, coat, and Elephant and horse sculptures, though. He gave the man the items that he was interested in then showed him the sword that had the snake-like, rebar handle on it. While the man looked it over a few times, he didn't seem all that interested in it, so he was able to "release" the breath that he was holding in over his actually asking him if it was for sale and his replying that it wasn't.

After his mother came in from work, he showed her what he found at the dump. Along with being happy in hearing that most of the feminine items were for Eshal, she said that it was a better than fine idea for him to give the enameled boxes to her too.

Eshal, who mostly stayed in her room the entire time he was showering and then cleaning what all they found at the Au am Rhein dump, was pleasant when Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer came in and she was also pleasant when Lazeer announced that one of his friends was coming over in an hour. His sister was very placid towards Eli Mendelsohn when he came over; though not very communicative with him, she didn't treat him badly or brush him off like he was diseased or was a carrier of a right bad cold.

It was when Eli received permission from both of his parents to stay for supper that Eshal changed. A meal of steak, green bean and corn combo, and baked potato salad was placed on the table then everyone sat down; they had no more started eating before the embarrassing, and downright infuriating, fireworks began.

"Steak's real good, Miss. Irene," Eli said.

"Thank you, Eli. Glad you like it." their mother replied. The look, that she gave their father, said it all—in not so many words, she told him to not say a thing on the non-marital tag that she was just called. It was quiet in the room for two minutes before she said, "Seems like all of us had a good day today."

"Very busy, but productive, on my end." their father said while everyone was either looking up or nodding their heads.

"All but me," Eshal said immediately after their father spoke.

"Huh?" Bile looked up.

"Eshal, what do you mean you had a bad day? Didn't you hang out with Bile?" Angel asked her daughter.

"Yeah, and he took me to the worst place imaginable too." Eshal shot. It was quiet at the table for about a minute before she spoke again. "After leaving the house, he dragged me to the dump then left me behind while he and his fah-riends got dirty."

"You left your sister behind?" Angel asked her son.

"Technically, no. And I didn't drag her anywhere either. I'll admit to grabbing and then teleporting with her to the dump that's in Au am Rhein but I never dragged nor said that she was to stay with me all while I was there." Bile responded. He was fast in telling the events that preceded what he and his sister did that day. "After we got to the dump, I went to its entrance. She was right beside me the entire time. All while I was going towards the entrance, she was telling me that she wasn't going in and that I wasn't either—I never touched her; after she stood before me, barring my path to the entrance, I went around her then went in. I'll admit to telling her that it suited me fine on her staying by the entrance but I never forced her to stay where I took her, or to come in and then get involved in what I was doing."

"What you just admitted to doing counts as a drag, Brother." Eshal said.

"You would of thrown a fuss if I didn't do what I did." Bile pointed out. "You could well of teleported back, or asked for my set of keys before teleporting back. Instead, you followed me to the dump's entrance then stood there, doing nothing but pacing back and forth, afterwards. It was only when you used your communicator to contact dad that you came in, and it was only when I found that lamp that you became involved in what I, and my friends, were doing."

"Does sound like he didn't drag and then force you to stay there, Eshal." TazirVile said.

"He glared at me after I used my communicator to contact you too, daddy." Eshal said in a slightly elevated, and false-emotion spitting, voice. "After I used my communicator, he glared at me then acted like he was going to get up to claim it from m—"

"I did not!" Bile said in a loud gasp. "I looked at you, then rolled my eyes at what you were doing, then went back to doing what I was. Again, my hands were never laid on you."

"Honestly, Eshal, I don't believe that your brother meant or would do you any harm. He might of been annoyed with you using your communicator to contact your father but I doubt if he glared or got up to relieve you of your communicator." Angel said.

The matter on who dragged who, and who either tried to assault or was looking to be about to assault another, was dropped. They went on with the meal for another few minutes before Eshal started up on another subject... which revolved around his friends.

"How long have you been seeing them friends of yours, Bile?" she asked him. Like an idiot, he bit the bait provided to him; the one who was in charge of the pole began reeling him in immediately.

"Since the latter part of September. Angus and I met one another on the twenty-fifth and he introduced Aubin, Abelle, and Franziska a few days later." Bile replied.

"Where'd you find Angus?"

"Same place that you and I went to t—"

"That's what I thought." Eshal was fast in saying. "You've befriended a fine bunch, and I'm sure that daddy will want to know all about how they acted today."

"How'd they act, Eshal?" TazirVile looked up from his plate; he looked at his daughter, then at his adopted son, before returning his gaze to his daughter.

"Trouble-makers, all of them." Eshal said matter-of-factly. She then turned her eyes towards his. "I don't need to look up the definition, or hang around them more than once to see how they are. I'm surprised that you've let yourself go as far as to befriend people like them. The same as Lhaklar, you have bad taste in friends and, I'm betting, have done a good round of creating trouble with them."

"None of my friends are trouble-makers, Eshal." Bile said.

"Really, then why did your red-haired friend have a scar on his cheek?" Eshal asked. Before he could answer her question, she said, "I bet he got that from fighting in the street, or from fighting someone over something that was recently stolen." after saying this, she went to pick on another of his friends. "And why did one of them girls look so fancily dressed, but go into the area that you and your other friends were in? Girls that dress like that don't hang around crowds like what you've befriended unless their looking for trouble, or a few "thrills". And why did that brown-haired human pick up and then speak of—"

"Aubin received the scar that you speak of from his grandfather. Both he and his sister were raised for a couple of years under the same roof that their grandparents owned and lived under; his grandfather was a drunk and had a way of taking his fits out on others. He struck my friend across the face with his cane one day when he was especially drunk and not in full control of himself." Bile both interrupted his sister and answered some of what she was asking.

"I hate it when people do that." Eli said. "How old was your friend when that happened?"

"Five, and he was doing nothing but playing with a basketball at the time. It was a very unprovoked attack." Bile answered his little brother's friend's question before going on to explain the other question pertaining to his friends. "As for Franziska, she likes to dress all nice and girlie but she's not all that girlie-girlie. She's cool, like the rest of my friends."

"I bet she is." Eshal shot. "And I bet your fah-riends enjoy handing her off among them too." his jaw, like his father's, dislodged from his face. He had no chance to defend his friend because his sister said this, "I suppose you've also had a go with her, and I suppose you get a good kick out of having a retard as a friend as well?"

"Eshal!" TazirVile gasped.

"Or someone who goes around, picking up dildos and speaking of the matter that comes from a woman's vagina?" Eshal continued.

Their mother, followed by their father, gave the signal for all conversation at the table to cease. Eshal mustn't of seen their signals because she continued gunning for his friends. After spending another two to three minutes of talking his friends down, and saying how "disappointed" she was in how he was so free in picking people of the wrong crowd to befriend, she turned her attention towards Lhaklar, who was now standing to get order in the room.

Eshal was fast in both snapping at and telling him to downsize his mannerisms. She also told him to drop how big and mighty he thought he was before turning her attention back to the friend situation. Instead of turning her attention back to him, she got on Lhaklar for how "dirty" and "distrustful" a crowd he hung around; she also told him that she was more than disappointed in how much respect he gave to their parents. After getting on Lhaklar, she turned her gaze towards Hazaar, who was doing nothing but sitting all quiet-like in his chair. The food on Hazaar's plate was barely touched; with the way Eshal was acting, he wouldn't be surprised if no more of it would be eaten. Eshal was particularly hard on Hazaar for how he conducted his temper, and for his "continued disobedience in not wanting to stay off his feet". After spinning a torrent of words about how disappointed she was in him, Eshal moved on; she targeted Lazeer, and his friend, next.

"You've also befriended a nice lot. Mouthy and disobedient, and one who walks around in all black, and wears makeup. The fact that you prefer to be outside, letting your injured face be susceptible to all sorts of contagions, and that you invite your friends over to a meal that's suppose to be consumed by just the members of your family, speaks volumes on how disrespectful you are." Eshal said to Lazeer.

"Kiefer, Killian, and Eli are good people and I'm damn glad to of found and befriended them." Lazeer shot.

"As are we in you." Eli, who looked rather uncomfortable, said.

"What're you, gay or something? You wear more makeup than a grown woman, and clothing that's too tight on a male body." Eshal said to Eli.

"I want no involvement in this, please." Eli, who now looked very uncomfortable, said.

"Eshal, that is enough." Angel said.

Despite the voice of their mother speaking up to, yet again, tell them to behave, and to return to their meals, he stood then drummed his fists on the table's surface. In his mind, Eshal was being both extraordinarily rude and offensive. The fact that Eli hadn't up and left the table, and then house, was a surprise to him—while he didn't know much about Lazeer's friends, he did think that Eli was leaning more towards being one of the Bi or Gay sexuality, which he was perfectly fine with. He was fine with people who were anything other than straight, and with how them types of people went by life, and how they dress themselves. He wasn't biased, rude, or disrespectful; before that night, he had figured that Eshal, his older sister, who had a few aunts who were of the lesbian orientation, was the same way. It looked like he was way wrong on his figuring of her.

"I take it that this is how you think we should live our lives—stay at home all day, have friends that do nothing but stare at the walls, or be tools all their lives, and allow for leashes to be thrown around our necks, then become tethered to a board somewhere, and then be content when they're released a tiny bit when its desired for us to have some exercise?" Bile asked his sister.

"No," Eshal replied. "Just to be better maintained, and respecting. And to not go out so much, or stay out for so long. You can have friends but have better ones than what you already have."

"I'd rather do things our way." Bile said.

"And that's going to get you into a lot of trouble." Eshal shot. "Like with what you did today—you stole. By you going to that dump, and taking things from it, you stole from it. That's ille—"

"No it's not." Lhaklar said.

"People throw what's in that dump out, don't they? If its not found and then taken home by us, or by someone who does as we do, it'll be piled up then burned." Hazaar said.

"There's many others who do as we do in going to the dump then finding things to take home and keep or sell." Lazeer said.

"It's not a bad hobby, and you became involved in it for a short while so what you said can be pinned to you." Bile pointed out.

"I wanted none of what I did today!" Eshal screamed. "If not for you enticing me with that disgusting lamp that you "found", I'd of never done what you and your fah-riends were."

"I didn't entice you with that lamp. I simply found and then removed it from the pile; you, after seeing it, came forward to inspect it. Once I found it, you became a happy, non-bored, free-willing person who was having fun in looking for what you found."

"You can have it all. Do whatever you want with it, I don't care. I don't want it nor want it around me and daddy." Eshal said. What she said next infuriated him. "Honestly speaking, I don't want anything to do with anyone who steals, or hangs around a bad crowd, so, when you wake tomorrow, don't bother in saying hello or asking if I want to come with you anywhere."

"I don't hang around a bad crowd, and you can bet I won't ask someone who's so shallow, and bored with life that they have to pick and make others feel belittled, if they want to hang with me." Bile practically yelled. His anger was so great that he turned then made as if to leave the room; instead of leaving the room, he walked into his chair then practically did a somersault over it. His mother raced over, helped him to his feet, then held him.

She told him that all was fine, and that he needed to calm down, and that all of what he heard was wrong, and that, if he took his sister's suggestion in getting rid of anything that he found for her on, he could do it and not feel a bit guilty about it. Though it took a while, he nodded his head—he whispered into his mother's ear that, tomorrow, if Eshal was still serious on what she just said, he'd be leaving early to set-up shop in Karlsruhe's one known flea market. The flea market in Karlsruhe was a big one; along with paying it visits from time to time, he had done business there more than five times, so he knew how one went by setting up and then making money in it.

After telling his mother his probable plans for tomorrow, he heard the order for him to both go upstairs and calm down, which he did. It didn't really surprise him when he heard Eli asking his mother for permission to be excused from the table, or when Guyunis asked if he could leave the table and then go upstairs. Lazeer's friend left in a hurry right after receiving permission to do so, and Guyunis did more than break his neck in getting up to his room.

Eli's exit of the house, and Guyunis's entrance to his bedroom, caused a five minute quiet spell to happen in the house before the sound of someone screaming her fool head off was heard. It didn't take him long to figure that Eshal turned her flame-filled mouth on his mother, or that his mother was reacting to what she said. All while hearing his mother get on Eshal for how disrespectful she was that evening, and for her ruining the meal for everyone, and hurting the feelings of more than the ones that were related to her, he was getting the things that he was probably going to be selling tomorrow ready for where he was planning on going once his alarm went off and he got up from bed. With Eshal being the way she was tonight, he didn't want her anywhere near him and he definitely didn't want any quick-made apologies, or to be seeing her while he was eating a meal.

At the moment, having her miles and miles away from him sounded like a blessing.


	19. Chapter 19

"What is that!"

"Is the street moving, datty?"

"That's the new Mexico City?"

"That... building looks bigger than the Eiffel Tower!"

Unlike his family, he wasn't gazing at the tv in shock. Somehow, he knew that something like what was happening with the former Mexico City would happen. Deep within his gut, after the blue tarp or canvas was rigged over the city's ruins, he knew that it'd be given a major make-over and that more than a few hundred were going to be shocked over what it'd look like after it was unvealed.

Mexico City, though being rather disarrayed, was okay to live in up to the middle part of last October. Due to all the inclement weather that was going on back then, the city, which was built over Lake Texcoco by the Spaniards after they conquered the Aztecs then set themselves down to destroying all of their hard-done work so their urban standards could be implemented over them, collapsed into the lake that it was built on top of. Many people were trapped under the debris; some of the troops, that the man who crowned himself North and South America's ruler sent to the area about two hours after it fell to both clean it up and help the survivors from where they were, had also fallen victim to the area's surrender. Almost immediately after some of the debris was cleaned up, and all of the survivors were rescued, the city was covered. The item that covered it was dropped some six hours ago, but it wasn't until now that televised images of the newly reconstructed city were shown.

The city was much changed now, and, from what he had heard, only a quarter of the people who use to live in it were allowed to return to populate it.

"Should of expected for that to happen." Stefan thought while staring at the odd spectacle that was being shown on his tv screen. "Should of expected for what happened with them neighborhoods to happen too, come to think of it."

His secretary gave him three newspapers on the day that the cretin, who swooped in then, somehow, got into the shields that were over North and South America and then conquered them two continents, made a motion in saying that anyone who wasn't a human could come in to populate the side of the planet that he had control over; he had learned a great deal on what was going on in the Americas through them newspapers. According to the article that was in one of them, certain citizens in certain neighborhoods were forced to abandon their homes a few months ago. The neighborhoods, with all their houses and towns and other items, were flattened and then rebuilt from scratch; the former occupants weren't allowed to come in to re-habitate the areas that they were forced from. The article in the second newspaper, while speculative on why this was done, had mentioned that something was in the planning stages for New York and Chicago—large tarps, or canvases, were noticed as being placed near them and certain people in half of the two cities were told to get out about a month to a month and a half ago. The third paper's article disclosed the purpose for the change and de-population of them neighborhoods—up to now, it wasn't known on what was to happen with the city of New York and Chicago.

After Master Vile made the decision to bring other-world creatures in to populate the Americas, them neighborhoods were vacated and then rebuilt in preparation for the new arrivals. Apparently, the same plan was in the works for New York and Chicago; it was obvious that this was also the plan for Mexico City.

"Just something new to add to the plate for them folk—none of them like him... this, and the forced removal of civilians, and then the reworking of the areas where they use to live in, just gave them an added incentive to not like him more." Stefan thought after leaning back in his chair.

The article, that was put in that day's newspaper, mentioned how the people overseas were reacting to their self-made ruler's declaration of letting others come in to populate their side of the planet. The American citizens felt cheated out of being allowed to voice their opinion on who was allowed to immigrate to their side of the planet; mass hysteria was happening, and a lot of uncalled for arrests were being made on the citizens who were just voicing themselves and their rights on the situation. He didn't need to be told that the former head of the North American government was very concerned for the ones who he use to look after—if he was the President of the United States, and his people were forcibly taken over by an alien beast who harbored more than his fair share of strengths and powers, and who thought he was all that and a bag of chips, he'd be concerned too... and he was, regardless of the fact that he had no pull on that side of the planet.

"A year and a month... Seriously thought he'd be overthrown, or kicked off the planet by now." Stefan thought.

Hell on Earth was experienced by every man, woman, and child last year, on the ninth of May. After finding his still unknown way into the shield's interior, Master Vile attacked then took the bigger of the western hemisphere nations under his control; shortly after seeing his troops as swooping into the middle-lying states of the United States, he made the decision to go to the capital of that nation then get to work.

The Dakota's and Carolina's were combined first, then the states of West Virginia and Virginia were combined. After the man got his hands on a map, that charted the New England states, he combined all of them into this big mess of a state that was still unnamed. After them states were combined, the toll roads in them were dismantled—new ones, in the most ridiculous of places, were built and then equipped with some sort of mechanical robot soon after they were dismantled. After doing this, the man set in on changing the government. It was no surprise to him that the people of the Americas were confused over the new laws that were placed on them—even he was confused by them, and he wasn't even in the Americas! The man was around halfway done in changing the way the government worked, and in implementing his strange laws, when he decided to combine Canada with the United states; the same toll road changes were done along both "old Canada's" and Mexico's borders after this occurred.

Sometime before combining Canada with the United States, then initiating the toll road changes, Master Vile was called to take care of the South American continent. For the most part, he let his troops handle the "conquest" of that nation. As far as he knew, all of the heads of government for the South American continent were either caught or killed while the man's troops were reeking havoc on it—none of them had been seen since the man declared that South America was his. After the "conquest" of South America was done, he set to work in installing the new laws and regulations for the civilians that lived on it.

While he was changing the government of the two continents that he had control of, he gave the order for several Master Vile museums and statues to be built—some in plain view, that were easy to get to, and others that were in the damnedest of places that could hardly be reached or seen. Some of the bigger or taller or wider buildings in the cities and towns of the Americas were also demolished for favor of these odd, little structures that looked like churches at the same time. Almost overnight, after Canada was combined with the United States, the order for certain communities in South America to be abandoned was given—the man had pretty much let his army have their fill of killing people after word reached him that his order wasn't being complied with. From what he had heard, the casualties in the communities that were near the forested parts of South America were high thanks to the man turning a blind eye to his army's activities.

After the new laws and regulations were installed, and the man started trying to bend the wills of the two continents' civilians to his favor, he started abusing the ones that he governed over. There were many stories out there on how keen the man was on abusing the people that he came upon while "leisure strolling" the areas that he picked to walk through—women were said to be either punched, slapped, or grabbed in a way that offended them; men were said to be sent to the hospital with broken bones or skin; and certain children were also scared out of their wits end... and for no reason at all! On one occasion, Master Vile walked right through a crowd of young children, who were no more than seven or eight years old, and were doing nothing but waiting for the bus; some of them were slapped while he was passing through while others were stepped on or thrown to the side. The man was pushing himself and his weight and "influence" around and the people of the Americas were reacting in a negative way to it... and now they had this matter of the other worldly creatures being allowed to populate the side of the planet that they lived on and on their being allowed to overtake the areas where they use to live in.

"They do! They do, they do!" Thede, his ten-year old daughter, who had hazel-colored eyes and medium-length, chestnut-brown hair, exclaimed after seeing the happenings on the screen of the tv.

"Is it me or does the area around the city look darker than usual?" his oldest daughter, who just turned seventeen, asked. His daughter turned her eyes, which were a startling mix of gray, green, and gold, towards him before turning them back to the tv; she moved closer to the set then threw her long, chestnut hair back after it fell over her shoulders.

"It looks like Gotham city..." Rainmund, his youngest child and only son, who was closing in on his sixth birthday, said in mild admiration. Except for the eyes, his son looked like his exact replica; Rainmund's eyes, instead of being hazel-green, like his, were very blue in color.

Er, in a way it did and, in another, it didn't. Just about everyone knew what Gotham City was; Batman, the fictional superhero that appeared in the twenty-seventh edition of Detective Comics, which went out in May 1939, was said to both live there and protect it from the ones who came in to create trouble. Gotham was described as being Gothic in the 1940's, then it became a bit more colorful in the 1950's and 1960's before becoming grittier in the 1970's. Over the years, a similar trend was experienced with the city's depiction. At the moment, Gotham City was back to being Gothic in appearance and depiction... Gothic and a little more than technologically advanced, that was. While he smiled at his son's mention of Mexico City looking like the fictional city of Gotham, he also spoke his mind on the differences that he was seeing.

All of the old buildings that use to be in the city were gone, as were the ruins of the Aztecs and other peoples that use to live in the area. They were replaced with these oddly shaped structures that were built out of clay and either blue, orange, or purple glass. Certain roads hovered in space and, as Thede had both mentioned and noticed, looked to move whenever something was on them—he bet they were unnerving for the twenty-five hundred that were allowed to re-populate the city! The parts where the ground caved in were still there, but most were filled in with water; there looked to be windows built into the sides of the rest... he wondered where those went to for just a second before training his attention to the city's tallest structure.

As Annelise had pointed out earlier, the structure was bigger and taller than the Eiffel Tower. Unlike the wrought iron lattice work that was on the tower that was in Paris, France, this building looked to be made out of glass... which was both blue and so bright that it was close to blinding! For some odd reason, it had an oval-shaped top on it that looked to have a balcony on it.

"What you see is the basic plan for what I and the planet's ruler and conqueror have drawn out for five of the cities that are located in North America—everything is uniform, and goes well with the topography of the area that it's built on." an odd-looking man was saying into a microphone.

Thede and Rainmund screamed when the man was shown on the tv. He and Rosalinde cringed when they did this, but they didn't go to silence them. Like his wife of nineteen happy years, his eyes were close to bugging out of his face, and his throat had threatened to close up on him—Tolukack Puvran, as the little caption said, looked to have no eyes or nose... but his maw was sure big! That maw of his had long, sharp teeth in it that were red on the top but dingy white from the middle on down to the tip—with the way his teeth looked, it looked like he chewed on something that was rather bloody and then decided to forgo the basic practice of taking care of himself afterwards. His pasty-white face looked dry and cracked. Though wearing a brown tuxedo, they could still see that he looked rather emaciated.

"What's that structure in the city's center?" the reporter, a young woman who looked rather perturbed by the man that she was interviewing, asked.

"The new administrative building—Master Vile will be appointing certain individuals to work it soon." the man said, after turning his tiny, black, soulless eyes to the building that he was just questioned about.

"What _is_ that!" Annelise exclaimed. "Looks like something from a horror movie... Datty, is that one of the species that's being allowed to move to the Americas?"

"I have no idea, and I don't know." Stefan answered his daughter's two questions quickly.

"Go away! Dat, make it go aw—"

"Thede..."

Along with teaching their kids right from wrong, he and his wife taught them how to treat people and how to handle themselves when a certain someone is around who's picking on another for the color of their skin, or religion, or for something that they saw was under their norm; he and Rosalinde were fast on getting on Thede for her acting out about Mr. Puvran, and they made sure to tell their other kids to behave themselves too. He and his wife were a good batch of people and they were doing their best to raise their kids to be the same. Even as a child, he had respected others and the same went now that he was in his mid-fifties; Rosalinde, though having a different raising than he, was the same way in her youth and in the present. Regardless of Mr. Puvran's crazy appearance, no negative words from them on him would be spoken, and neither of them were about to start hopping up and down about wanting nothing of what he looked like on the planet either.

The planet wasn't to be the same again—while he already knew this, he was sure of it now. With Master Vile stinking up the Americas, and the aliens of other worlds coming in to populate the places that he had control of, a new era was coming into being. In a way, he was glad to be around to see how it'd all go down. Even though alien population wouldn't happen in the eastern hemisphere during his term as Germany's president, or, possibly, in his lifetime, he'd still react in a respectful, but curious, way to the ones who moved into the Americas. No prejudice, hateful words, pick-ons, or insults would be done by him after the new inhabitants of the Americas started moving in and then were shown on the tube.

"Willing to bet that Bettina is watching this... and that she jumped after seeing him, then started making up some sort of plan that revolves around what she saw as a way to get more on her side in getting me thrown out." he thought while looking at the dark atmosphere that seemed to surround the city of Mexico. As Annelise had pointed out earlier, the area surrounding the city did look darker than it use to be... darker and more foreboding. To him, it almost looked like one of them polaroids of a no-man's land.

While things were going well at home for him, and were going according to schedule on his side of the planet, and while Master Vile was still trying to find a way in but was still being thwarted by the shields, he was experiencing a bit of issues in the Chancellery that were keeping him up at night. Bettina Gottlieb about broke her neck in both calling and then saying that he should declare a state of emergency over what was going on in Elchesheim-Illingen—she saw the article, that was put in the June 11 newspaper, about Miss. Irene and her family and she also learned that Miss. Irene's husband and his daughter were in the shield and were living with them.

After saying that he should declare a state of emergency in Elchesheim-Illingen, she said that he should quarantee the town and then safely remove everyone who wasn't human from it. His response of saying no had caused her to both scoff at him and slam her end of the phone down. Non-surprisingly, a series of meetings were done on the matter during the next two days. Bettina, during them meetings, was ranting and raving about the two extra aliens being on the shield's interior; thanks to her rants and over-done concern on the situation, some of the people in the meeting hall had reacted to what was learned. It was just him, Ajeet, Katharina Fuchs, Gustav Maihofer, and Wilda Schmidt who were steadfast on the situation not being dire, and that the family should remain untouched. Erhard Scheel was alarmed over the alien and his daughter being inside the shields of Germany; Sigmar Röttgen was a bit angered over the situation not being known before now; and Ursula Arendt was downright against the two being left in the shield and being allowed to move about the ones who lived and worked in Elchesheim-Illingen. If not for him saying that the alien man and his daughter were in the shield's interior since the latter part of April, and if not for Katharina and Gustav saying that nothing adverse had happened since the alien man's residency and then noted appearance, Bettina might well of gotten her way on having the Irene's removed from the country. With her acting the way she was—in jumping and then declaring that one, innocent family needed to be evicted from the country, and in persecuting two individuals for their ethnicity—, he sent in the forms for her to resign from her post and for the one who was next in line to take her place.

He was met with a bit of trouble after firing Mrs. Gottlieb—she was either waiting for him to fire her or got raving mad over his doing what he did; as of the last twenty days, she was working to get him impeached. Along with running around, spreading all sorts of stuff on how his friendship with the planet's heroine was blocking his good senses, and making him turn a blind eye to the country's safety, and to the safety of the people that live in it, she was saying that he was the biggest mistake to be running the Chancellery and that he needed to be gotten rid of. At the moment, she had around fifteen percent of the German population on her side. Almost immediately after Mrs. Gottlieb was relieved of her post, the country's Informationsfreiheitsgesetze was done on the Chancellery.

The country's Freedom of Information law, which was put into effect on September 5, 2005, and was given its final update on September 14, 3084, was one of the older laws here. It basically specified that each person had an unconditional right to accessing official administrative information; regardless of his being bound to give what he knew on the Irene's to the public after the law was exercised, he kept some things to himself. No one, not even his wife or children, knew that Miss. Irene, and her children, were to be removed from the planet in November—along with not knowing how to break it to everyone that this was to happen, and not wanting anyone to flock to the Irenes' doorstep then do the constant knocking and then begging thing to get them to stay where they were, he didn't want to create a panic.

In a way, he was concerned and a bit saddened by his friend and her sons being taken like they were. He didn't know if the alien man was going to let his wife continue being their heroine, or if he was going to let her return to Earth to check in on its people, or maintain the shields that needed repairs or replacing, and he didn't know if he was going to treat the Irene's well after the move was done, or let them continue the friendships or be in contact with the ones that they befriended since becoming German citizens. On the day that he paid the Irene's a visit, then got into a fight with the man who his heroine was forcibly married to, then found out what he did, he was mostly centered on their relative safety and on what was going on with them; the idea of asking the man that was living with them the questions that popped into his head during the drive home had never crossed his mind while being there. The courage to ask them questions had yet to come to him too. He was sure that the date of the Irenes' removal from the planet was going to pull some heart strings and create some stress in certain people—he being one of them, since he had grown rather close to them, and did more than value their friendship.

"Rosalinde and the kids know what happened on the secondth of last month. They know all of what happened with me, some of the neighbors on the street that the Irene's live on, and that alien man. None of them have gotten concerned, or turned red around the collar after hearing that two other aliens have taken up residence in one of our country's shield's interior." he thought after going to change the channel.

Naturally, Rosalinde was taken aback by the speeding tickets that he earned during his trip to see the Irene's but she didn't get but so mad about it—after receiving and then opening the envelopes that they were in, then taking them out, she approached him on them. Like any other good husband, he calmed her by saying that he had to get to Elchesheim-Illingen and fast. The telling of what happened on that day wasn't that hard and, with the kids being around to hear it, he didn't have to repeat anything that he said to her. The kids were curious about Miss. Irene's husband and daughter, and his wife, while also curious, seemed to be accepting of his speeding to get to his friend and her family; despite this, they were staying out of the Irenes' business... which he was glad for. Unless he was invited in on what was going on with his friend and her family, he didn't bug or ask too many questions on what was going on and, unless it was dire to his or someone else's health or well-being, he kept all of what he learned to himself. If not for them tickets being received, and his wife's ever-growing concern about them and him, he would never of told her what he did.

"Wait," Annelise said right when he was about to change the channel.

"Annelise?" he said.

"What are they doing?" Thede asked.

"Stefan, don't." Rosalinde said. In his eyes, his wife, who was seated on the couch, and had a knitting kit on her lap, was still as lovely as could be—her hips and waist may be average, and her thighs may be wide, but she was very nice and presentable... and who could resent them sparkling blue eyes that she had in that pretty face of hers, or that long, brown hair that she had.

He consented to the wish of his family by putting the remote down. After the remote was on the arm of his chair, he saw what they were interested in—there were four windows on the screen of the 50" flat-screen tv, that was above the mantle of his family's fireplace; there was a crowd of people on each of them that were either walking forward or acting foolhardy. He was fast in turning the volume up, and in putting together what was happening.

The people of the Americas, after seeing how Mexico City looked, had sent up a raged chorus and then started congregating to do marches, or act out their displeasure over what was happening. One of the groups was near the "new" Mexico City—Tolukack Puvran, and the one interviewing him, were fast in leaving the area... and a bunch of goat-like militants were fast in taking their place. The miliants forced the crowd from the city then formed a barricade—a sort of spike-like device was thrown at the crowd, then a bunch of sticks were swung at the ones who were still standing after the device's contents caused most of the crowd to either collapse or run off. All thirty who were still standing were struck with a blue energy source that caused them to drop to their knees, and then sides; the barricade was just coming towards the fallen civilians when he decided that his family had seen enough of what was going on.

"Datty?" Thede said.

"Think it's time for everyone to go to bed." Stefan said while getting up from his chair. He put the remote down then turned to look at his family. "No more tv for the night; everyone upstairs and get ready for bed."

Unlike the Leinart's, who let their children watch the proceedings of what was going on with Mexico City, he and Gretel put their kids to bed about thirty minutes before the story ran on the news. He and his wife saw everything; when the alien architect was shown on the screen of their tv, he was fast in shielding his wife—Gretel had always had a fear of creatures that had mouths that boasted sharp, and bloody, teeth and, like the Gretel that she was, she reacted to seeing that man by having a near heart attack. Mr. Tolukack Puvran, who ran off to some unspecified location after the "mob" was seen as coming towards the city, made a return to their television screen about five minutes after the barricade carted the still-present civilians to the awaiting vans that were parked nearby. The ones who were injured by the projectiles, that came from the spike-like devices, and the ones who were struck by that energy source, were said to be taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment—in reality, they were carted to jail and then thrown, while still being injured, in cells.

"The ones on the continents that I've taken to my control will have to accept that this is how it goes from now on and that certain cities and towns will take on a whole new appearance for both the peoples of this planet and for the ones who decide to move here." Master Vile was cited as saying around fifteen to twenty minutes after all the angry civilians were either run off or carted to jail.

From what he and his wife had heard, around ten alien families had taken the option of moving into the Americas. According to the morning news, these families settled in about four days after Master Vile's declaration was made; of the ones who moved in, all but three remained—they moved into one of the areas that were once occupied by humans, and that were massively reconstructed. Naturally, civil disobedience was being done by some of the people who use to live in that neighborhood—some of the adults and upper-teenage folk were "charging" in to vandalise certain structures and cause the occupants of their former living space to feel fear; in a way, he wasn't but so surprised to hear that all but a family of three, a family of five, and a family that consisted of eight adult members and two juveniles were run out from their new homes. Master Vile, non-surprisingly, hadn't done a thing to protect them people—oh, he sent his troops in but only to protect the newly reconstructed buildings that were "under threat". According to the news, the ones who remained in the neighborhood couldn't go anywhere—they spent everything of what they owned to get to where they were.

While he felt sorry for all three of them families, he really felt for the one that consisted of ten members. The family's two, elder members looked to be experiencing some issues in walking—they either got around in this sort of hover-like wheelchair or were very, very slow when they were on their feet—and the two who looked to be their next eldest members looked to be very sick. The others looked to either have the same illness that the next eldest in their family had or were healthy—with ten to provide for, there was a lot on the shoulders of them four seemingly healthy people. Naturally, the two kids couldn't do anything to bring in money for the bills or table—sadly, it was one of the kids who looked to have the same illness that one of his older siblings and, he was guessing, parents had. The members of the ten-member consisting family looked to have protruding or stalk-like eyes all over their head, and brown skin; the wings, that were on their backs, were pitifully short, and couldn't be used for flight, while their legs were trim... a bit too trim, honestly. While their arms had a little bit of size on them, they weren't much bigger than their legs. It was only by the little bows that were perched atop the family's female members' heads that he was able to discern the females from the males.

While the ten-member consisting family was shown on the tube, the other two families refused to have any cameras near them or be involved in any reporting business. With the happenings that were going on overseas, he didn't blame them. They were probably scared out of their wits ends, and were probably afraid of more ridicule or prejudice being thrown at them if they showed themselves on tv.

"He's tiny!" Haimi said after the youngest member of the ten-member compromising family was seen on their tv. As of the last two hours, the same thing on the news was run again and again—it was mainly what was going on in Mexico City that was being shown, but the rerun on the alien family was also being done.

"He's no bigger than a year old," Gretel said.

"He's cu—" Chayla made a face when the little tyke, who's green and blue eyes were rather cloudy and hot-looking, lurched forward then belched out a greenish-white liquid. One of the family's non-sick, female members was fast in going to the young man's aid right after he retched what he did. "Dat, is he sick?"

"Master Vile's letting people who are sick come in and populate the Americas?" Gretel said while shaking her head.

It did look like it. While watching what he was, he thought that a potential problem may be underway—the last plague was experienced two hundred and one years ago; while he wasn't around to experience it, he knew that his family was struck by it. Of the fifty Ballal's that were around when it struck, only five survived to continue the line to the future. Them damn mosquitoes, that carried a highly evolved disease in them, and that passed it along after biting unsuspecting people and then sucking their blood out for sustenance, had done a number on the human population, which had yet to really recover to what it was before they came along. While he didn't mind other people from other worlds coming in to populate the planet he did mind if they were sick—who knew what they carried, or what they could create with their sicknesses! After seeing what he did, he was glad that it was just the Americas that the aliens were coming in to populate. Maybe, with shield-made and generated protection and isolation, the people of the eastern hemisphere wouldn't be struck by whatever contagions or diseases the sick aliens brought in, which could breed or mingle with the already known contagions or diseases that were on the planet and then mutate into a new plague or illness that could cause trouble for the planet's current-living population.

"Pardon, the people of the eastern _and_ western hemispheres, where the shields are still up and strong—while the Americas have no shields over them, and are run-over by Master Vile and his armies, the island nations in the Carribean are safe from him and that counts double for Hawaii, which still has its shield over it and is still apart of the United States." he quickly corrected himself.

While sitting where he was, he wondered if Master Vile had noticed that he didn't, technically, "own" all of North America. With Hawaii, which compromised of eight islands in the Pacific, not being in his control, the people that were there were still free... and Horace A. Smith, the American president, was still president of it. In a way, Hawaii was like a giant middle finger to Master Vile—he smiled behind his hand when he imagined the citizens of them eight islands grouping together somewhere and then flashing them fingers and saying ha, you say you have the Americas but you don't have us.

"Why don't you two go outside and play—it's the weekend, and no school is going on, and the weather is good, and all you're doing is sitting and staring at the tv." Ajeet said to his two children.

"Okay," Haimi jumped up then left the room in a hurry.

"Can I stay, datty? I want to see the little alien boy, and the other aliens that moved in." Chayla asked after standing then coming towards him. He was fast in shaking his head.

"No. Think the lil' guy's been put to bed for now, and think the others that live overseas are doing their best to play the hide routine."

"Dat..."

"Chayla."

That closed that matter. His daughter gave him a depressed look then went off to do as he told her. His wife followed behind her, but not to do as she was, though. With his wife's arm being in a splint instead of something that was made of thick fiberglass, she was taking advantage of being able to use it again—before the kids started going crazy after the family of aliens were shown on the tube, she was using the broom and dustpan in the dining room. He presumed that she went to resume that activity... or to make a batch of sweets—he hoped that they were of the spice variety, if the latter was being done. He had never been able to say no to her spice cookies, or other sweet-baked desserts. After his wife and kids left the room, he picked the phone up then started dialing. His caller? Well, seeing as he hadn't heard so much as a peep from his heroine and friend, he was about to break the drought between them and see what was up.

After dialing the number to the Irenes' landline, he stood then went towards the tv. He shut it off then turned to go back to where he had previously been seated; his butt had no more been planted before his call was picked up.

"Yeah, hello?" the gravelly-sounding voice, that came through his handset, could only belong to one being—the "husband" of his planet's heroine. "Who's this?"

"A friend of you wife's." was his prompt reply.

"Take it that that's your name?"

"Ajeet."

"Oh." it was long, and drawn-out; he bet the man pictured all of their little moments together after he spoke his name. "Hang on a second."

"Take it that you have Miss. Irene all chained up somewhere?" he said after nearly two minutes passed, and no word came in through his handset from the one who picked up.

"M... no, she's got free movement, as always." the man on the other end of the line said.

"Where is she?" he both thought and asked.

"Upstairs." was his quick reply.

"Alrighty then."

Alrighty then? What kind of reply was that? The man on the other end of the phone, which he was really only just handling for the second time since taking up residence in the home that his family was in, was an odd one; he still had a desire for him to be far from his wife, and to have no verbal contact with her. This... Ajeet Mahatma Ballal was the same man who was seen as dancing a very risque dance with his wife in February, and he was also seen as... hovering his hand close to a portion of his woman's just-exposed breast—which was his! This man was also known to be with Hazaar on the day that he and Lhaklar were seen in Berlin—while Lhaklar got away, Hazaar was dogged on foot by both himself and the Goblins that were picked to go to the location to see if they could find any trace of his then-missing sons; the man on the other end of the phone prevented him from capturing his son, and he also shot at and injured his stepfather, who was doing nothing more than helping him in bringing Hazaar in.

He considered hanging the phone up. Just hang the phone up, then disconnect it from the wall, then go and find his wife's cellular and do the block routine on the number that'd probably come through it. This man, like the one who called last night, shouldn't be calling the house's landline number, or his wife's cellular number, and he shouldn't bother in wondering about his wife either. Why on days like today was one like Mr. Ajeet Mahatma Ballal calling someone who lived more than a few hours from him? Surely the man, who had a wife who looked a bit too young for him, and two young children by said wife, and a cushy job in a building that was close to where the country's administration was, had better things to do than to be phoning up Ang—

"Take it that you've seen what's going on overseas?" the low, husky-sounding voice on the other end of the phone dragged him from his thoughts, and grouchiness.

"Yeah and, before you ask, I'm in no way agreeing with what he's doing." TazirVile replied. "It's too early, and the folk that he's allowed to come in to populate the planet don't look to be properly screened."

"Screened?"

"Given a check-up by a doctor."

"You noticed how they looked as well?"

"Hard to not miss."

Yes, he had seen the reels on the news on what was going on with Mexico City, and with the three families that moved into the Americas. Most of the people that moved to the planet were from the Mokis Galaxy, which was located in the eastern quadrant of the Universe; thanks to most in that being at war with a relatively new conqueror, most were looking for a new planetary residence that wasn't so war-ravenged. The only family that was on the planet that wasn't from the Mokis Galaxy was the one that had ten members in it—the Terronda species, which reigned from the Mazon Galaxy, which was one of the Universe's southern-lying galaxies, were a mostly free-spoken, but gentle, race that did their best to steer clear of trouble. It was most unfortunate that Syobisia 4, the planet that the race was mostly found on, and where the family of ten came from, was under threat by a sort of illness that wasn't all that well understood by the scientists that were trying to study and then find a cure for it.

Why Vile was allowing the potentially illness-carrying Terronda's to colonize his planet, and why Kzohon Ragarn, the conqueror and ruler of the Mazon Galaxy, was allowing for his sick people to move to other galaxies, and possibly put the people of them galaxies under threat of what his civilians were catching and succumbing to, was beyond him. This was another sloppy tactic that he frowned upon in how one went by conquering and then ruling and then allowing other species to come in to populate the realms that they've taken to their control—most everyone who conquered realms initiated a plan where potential civilians to their galaxies were screened by doctors, and then have their criminal and other affair backgrounds checked over, before being allowed to come in and make themselves feel at home and most conquerors also put a block on their civilians leaving their realms when a disease or illness was known to be going on in them. Angel, though expressing her sorrow over the three families that were now forced to remain in the Americas, had also expressed her concern over the planet's current population after seeing that nearly half of the family of Terronda's were sick; Lhaklar, on the other hand, grew raving mad over what was going on and needed to be both reprimanded and then told to go upstairs and calm down. The rest of the family's reactions to what was going on was mixed.

"From what I'm told, you're double-related to the man who's in the Americas." the man on the other end of the phone said.

"Double-related?" TazirVile repeated the word that was just said.

"Some sort of in-law and, I believe, cousin or something to him."

"Uncle, and I've never had the "in-law" tag applied to me in regards to him. In a way, I'm glad for this—being his uncle is enough to stomach."

"Tazzy?" Angel came around the corner; he was fast in both smiling and giving her the phone. "Who is it?"

"One of your male friends in Berlin." TazirVile said while walking away from his wife.

" 'One of your male friends in Berlin?' What, is Mr. Alien jealous or something over you having friends of the male gender, or is something just crawling a bit too far up his skirt?" Ajeet asked after Angel had her ear to the phone.

"During the morning hours, he's a bit grouchy." Angel hoped that this was enough to explain why her husband was acting the way he was.

"Take the cattle prod to him—if he's that grumpy, he needs to go back to bed and then stay there until he's not so grumpy." Ajeet said.

"Yeah, once he's up and about, he doesn't go back to bed, or take any naps."

"You okay over there? Mr. Grump's not going to start barking out orders, or swinging his belt at any of you, right?"

"Except for Lhaklar, who's slowly calming down from what he saw on the tv this morning, everyone's doing well. Tazir will calm down in a few hours—just give him some time to get over the motions of the first few hours of being awake."

"Haven't heard from you in a while. Since our last talk, how's things been for you and the boys... and your daughter and Mr. Alien?"

Even though Tazir was right around the corner from her, she felt no fear in telling her friend how she and her family were over the last three weeks. After the events at the destroyed meal of June 24 occurred, she decided to clock-in early at U-Krop-It; a note was written and then taped to the fridge, then €50 was left on the mantle of the fireplace—it simply said that she wasn't at home, and that she could be reached via her cellular or communicator at any time. With the events of the previous night, she figured that the boys wouldn't want to eat a meal while their sister was around so, she left them some money—just in case they wanted to have breakfast in a shop instead of at home. Another note, written for Tazir, and left on the table that was beside their bed, had given him the specifics on what she wanted the boys to do that morning; from what she could tell, all of her sons went out to eat. All of the money was missing from the mantle when she came home.

According to her husband, Bile, who was given his sister's consent over selling everything that he either found for her or she found for herself when they went to the dump, went to the flea market in Karlsruhe almost immediately after taking €10 from what she left for him and his brothers. By the time Tazir paid him a visit—to see how he was doing, and get in a little better sights than those of what he had seen over the two months that he was living under the shields—, he had sold nearly half of the items that were on his table. The enameled horse boxes, the pillows, all but one of the stained glass lamps, and the lamp that had the butterflies and flowers on it were some of the items that weren't taken to the flea market and then sold; Bile claimed that, even though Eshal was such a "bitch" during the meal of June 24, he was still going to let her have some of the items that were found at the dump. After checking in on their son, Tazir went home.

Even though her husband got on Eshal for what she said on June 24, he let her voice most of the displeasure that they felt towards her; it wasn't after until the events of July 12 that he sat her down then set her straight on what she was doing.

Everything was calm and quiet in the house right up to Guyunis's birthday. Tazir, like with when Hazaar's birthday came around, was very keen on taking in the details of how her adopted son liked for his special day to be done—all while she was making Hazaar's birthday dinner, which consisted of grilled leg of lamb, and steamed carrots and potatoes, and was making the lemon-flavored, camouflage tie-die cake, he was nearby... watching as she worked, and taking down valuable information that he'd need to know for when their son's birthday came around again. The same happened when she brought out the blueberry-banana ice cream after the meal was consumed and the cake was presented to their son.

"Mushrooms, mushrooms, and more mushrooms." she remembered her husband saying after "stealing" behind her then looking over her shoulder. At the time, she was making pan-fried chicken in mushroom sauce; baked mushrooms, that were filled with Sulguni cheese; and stuffed mushrooms—Guyunis had a thing for mushrooms, and he collected a lot of them while out on his hunt, so she made the decision that his birthday meal would consist of his favorite food item. Tazir had picked up on this very fast after seeing what she was making, and that her son "dove" into it after it was laid before him.

After the meal was consumed, a non-nut containing carrot cake cheesecake, that had cream cheese-coconut icing on it, was served—unlike the meal, she asked her son what he wanted in a cake for his special day. She did the same with the ice cream—her son wanted the type that had coconut, passion fruit, and mango in it and that was what she got for him. Long before the meal, and its dessert, was prepared and then cooked, Guyunis was enjoying the items that were given to him.

Guyunis was gifted a total of twelve CDs—four by a band named Hellyeah, two by another band named Rising Against, three by another band named Five Finger Death Punch, two by another band named Mudvayne, and one by a band called Meshuggah. He got very busy in listening to them. He was also gifted a virtual game system, that came complete with a helmet, two remote controls—one that was shaped like a rifle and the other that was normal in appearance—, and a game called Dune. From what she could tell, Guyunis had an interest in knives—her adopted son was given two knives on his birthday that he just about went crazy over. One had a Damascus blade on it, and an onyx handle that was decorated with gold and plain red designs, while the other was a ten-inch long cable knife—which her husband did think was rather nifty, and which he asked to see after seeing it being given to its new owner. Hazaar surprised Guyunis with two models—one of a 1886 Benz motorwagon and the other of a 1886 American LaFrance Silsby-Manning Steam Fire Engine—which Guyunis just about had a heart attack over.

Lhaklar and Lazeer were the ones who really went out for Guyunis. While the CDs, and game system, were from her, and the knives from Bile, and the two models from Hazaar, Lhaklar got him something that he could make some noise with and Lazeer got him more than two things to build and then display in his room. Tazir was fast in deducing that Guyunis was into motorcycles—four model kits, consisting of a Tamiya 16040 FLH Classic Harley Davidson, a BSA C15, a VRSCR Street Rod, and something called a Midnight Rider Chopper, were received. She was very aware of the fact that Guyunis listened to some of the tunes that were on some of his new CDs while putting some of his models together.

The final gift received was probably the biggest—somehow, Lhaklar managed to get his hands on a B.C. Rich guitar that had a black base color that had all sorts of blue, white, and yellow electric designs on it. Lhaklar wouldn't spill on how he gained the revenue for the item; Guyunis was really too thrilled to receive the guitar to worry about where the funds came from for it. With the guitar looking to be in better than grand shape, and with it looking to be one of them high-dollar instruments, it didn't look like something that one who was working part-time, and was making minimal wage, could afford. Since being received, she had heard its strings being plucked, so she knew it was being used—no device with which it could be hooked up to, and then gain the real, electric sound from, had been purchased or given to Guyunis, so all her son could do was play it like it was an acoustic guitar instead of an electric.

The music-playing, and the use of the guitar, and the resumed habit that Guyunis had of leaving his books on either the kitchen table or counter top, was what caused the calm and quiet spell to end.

"Ah, that brings back memories... Had a similar issue with my oldest son on his leaving his magazines and comic books lying about the house when he was a teenager too." Ajeet said after hearing about Guyunis's resumed habit of leaving his books on the kitchen table or counter top.

"Gives the place a lived-in feeling, don't it?" Angel said.

"Sure does, and also shows you how forgetful the teenage mind can be. Käte and I did the ransom box thing with him—he does a certain chore, or a certain bit of chores, and he gets what he leaves lying around the house back."

Eshal had that idea under her cap as well... along with the one where she grabbed the item that was left behind somewhere and then rushing it up to its owner—on some instances, she just threw it at Guyunis while, in others, she either barged into his room or stopped and then shoved him against the wall before yelling at him about his resumed habit doing. Guyunis and she got into a good fight on the two instances where she barged into his room with one of his left-behind books—while Eshal wasn't hurt, Guyunis did receive a slap to the face and another to his chest, which caused him to revert back to his old ways of being afraid of Tazir and Eshal for a few days. On the other instances, he either picked the book that was thrown at him up or spoke in his own defense before pushing his sister from him then claiming the item that she was ranting to him about. On the instances where Eshal just collected Guyunis's books, then put them in a box, that was kept in her room, and then said that he could have them back when he "earned" them, her son used his communicator to contact and then tell her what was going on.

All of Guyunis's confiscated books were returned to him. While he was still leaving his books behind in the kitchen, it was no longer Eshal who picked them up. It was now either Tazir, Bile, or Lazeer who did so—Tazir, as of the last few days, had picked up more three books that were simply left on the dining room table; he was fast in having Eshal watch him as he took them up to their owner and then made a rightful return.

Eshal made a return to hating, or disliking, the music that was played by her brothers. Four days ago, when she came in from work, Guyunis practically bulldozed her to the floor—he was scared half to death, and the reason for this lie in what happened earlier that day. Apparently, her son was building his Steam Fire Engine while Meshuggah was playing on his stereo; Eshal slammed the door to his room open then came in screaming about his "needing to turn it down and now". Bile was there at the time, so he was able to get her out of the room that she went into; on the other two instances, where she either came in then went towards the stereo—to either turn it off or destroy it—, or where she went towards Guyunis in a "menacing way", her son wasn't at home or able to prevent what happened between the two children that she adopted.

"She flipped his bookcase!" Ajeet nearly exclaimed.

"Yep. Flipped the whole thing over. The stereo, all of the CDs, and everything else that was on it were either broken or damaged in some way." Angel replied. "Scared him something awful!"

"Guess so, I'd be scared if something like that happened to me at his age too."

"Hazaar was home at the time. He went in, then did the spell to repair everything to what it was."

"Nothing's broken anymore?"

"Nope."

"Take it that she was physical with him on the other instance?"

"From what I was told, she shoved him back when he started to get up from his table's chair. After he got up to defend himself, she grabbed him by his arm—he had some bruising on that arm, she had him that tight!"

"Should I call the polizei? Sounds like that girl needs some serious therapy, or a good talking-to."

Which she got. On the thirteenth, the day following her going into Guyunis's room to sneak his guitar away after Guyunis plucked its strings for three hours, Tazir sat her down then asked her a bunch of questions before giving her a good piece of his mind on what she was doing. If not for her husband threatening to tack on another month to their stay on the planet, Eshal might not of broken down or saw the reason in the error of her ways. As of the last few days, her daughter was very placid and controlled around her brothers... which she was more than ever grateful for! She really did hope that it'd continue, and that Eshal would do as her father had told her to do today in leaving the house. It was past a month since her daughter went outside—it was way past time for her to get in some outside time!

"And so, in the month of May, you had your husband to deal with and, in the month of June and July, its his daughter who you find yourself as gaining a headache over." Ajeet said after hearing the events of what happened over the last three weeks. "Surprised over hearing that—usually, the girls are the better behaved ones while the boys are the ones who give out the most headaches, or give their parents a good run for their money. Your daughter does know Guyunis's history, right?"

"I really have no experience in having teenage daughters under my roof so I can't say anything on who gives their parents more headaches." Angel said before answering the question presented to her. "Yes, she's aware of what he's gone through."

"If I were you and your husband, I'd sit her down and tell her his history again—with what he's gone through, he doesn't need one of his siblings to be constantly at him. A fight here and there is normal, and acceptable, but constant fighting isn't."

"Agreed."

"You available for a visit next weekend?"

"Most definitely. Haven't seen you in a while, same goes for the boys—think we'd be delighted to see you." Angel replied. "Just so you know, Stefan asked the same question last night, at around nine-ten... he's to be expected for a visit next weekend as well."

"Make it a double."

"Deal."

"Alrighty then, keep your husband and kids—daughter especially—corraled and well-tended until then. I shall see you sometime after I clock-out at the Bendlerblock next weekend—we shall have a ball-al."

"Funny, Ajeet."

"Thought'd I'd get a chuckle from you on that. Bye now."

"Bye." the two of them hung up at the same time.


	20. Chapter 20

With all the rain that was gained between June 30 and yesterday, Eshal had more than ample opportunity to pick on them. While she had her run-ins with he, Lhaklar, and Hazaar, she seemed to be more focused on Guyunis—a feat that was both easy and hard for her, considering that one or the other of them was home on the days that it wasn't raining to keep an eye on her. Due to the weather, and to his getting enough CDs and models to keep him busy for a while, Guyunis barely went out—he only went out on the first and sixth; even though Eshal was stinking the place up, and making their life a living hell, he stayed home on the third and eighth, which were both precipitation free and moderate in temperature.

On the fifth of the month, after the rain slowed to a "mild" drizzle, Lhaklar braved the weather to go get his monthly usuals. Eshal, as expected, was waiting for him when he returned. Lhaklar had an armload of stuff on him that Eshal did more than point at—the many magazines were grabbed and then thrown, and the box that contained model paints and glue was knocked from his arms, and the four models were grabbed at; if not for their father, their sister might of destroyed all of what their brother came in with. Lhaklar spent around half of his given allowance, and about twenty or so euros of what he made while on the "job", on what he purchased; Eshal scoffed at him for his doing that then started saying that he should be ashamed of himself for spending the money that he made for the family via "cashiering" on himself. Lhaklar, while being vocal, and showing defense of both himself and his purchases, had remained mature by keeping his movements and words low—he avoided any true physical abuse, and he called their father into the situation before it got nasty.

Hazaar and Lazeer were wise in spell-sending the stuff that they bought that'd get them by for the month home while he and Guyunis did as Lhaklar did in coming home with it all. Eshal left Guyunis alone on the first, third, sixth, and eighth, yes, but that didn't mean that she didn't leave him, or Lhaklar or Hazaar, alone.

On the sixth, after coming home from his trip to Elchesheim-Illingen, then putting his purchases on the coffee table, he got the urge to pee. While he was taking care of that issue, Eshal was going through his things. Naturally, he had all of his hunting magazines, and his one knife and pornographic magazine, in the pile; while he wasn't fully in on the model building thing, he also bought himself two models—on a spree, since it was raining a lot and he needed something more than video gaming, music listening, tv watching, or magazine reading to do. The bag of pot, that he got from Amsterdam, was already spell-sent home, so Eshal didn't find or bite his head off on that. While Eshal slid the hunting and knife magazines to the side, she both grabbed and was vocal on the pornographic magazine. After taking it up, she rushed it over to their father then started squealing on what she found and on it needing to be gotten rid of and fast. Their father surprised both him and her by simply taking it then walking it back to the pile—his magazines, the model of a witch that was sitting on a cauldron and holding a white towel to her naked body, and the model of a hula girl that was both playing a ukulele and in the process of losing her grass skirt were all carted up to his room right after he came out from the can then saw what was going.

He made good off the stuff that he sold at the flea market—€85, with ten of it being given to Hazaar, who claimed to need some cash for his pets' vitamins. He used the rest of what he made on himself. While he spent most of what he made on some mid-grade pot, €25 went towards this cooler than cool sword—while its handle was leather-stacker, its blade was both bronze-like but stainless steel; what got him on the piece was the fact that it had sharks teeth all along the edges. The sheath, while leather, was also decorated with sharks teeth. His brothers, and mother, were more than shocked after seeing it... the old man, while also impressed with it, had, thankfully, not asked if it was for sale or if he was looking to get rid of it. Eshal had looked very uninterested in the whole ordeal about the thing, so she missed out on seeing it—which, considering how she was with him and his brothers, Guyunis especially, he was perfectly fine with.

"Hazaar received permission to do a hunt in India on the ninth; Eshal did more than throw herself at him after he came home. He wasn't even allowed to unwind, or take in a breath before finding himself as having to swat at her hands, which were being run over him."

Eshal claimed to be checking him over for injuries while Hazaar claimed that she was trying something else—their father, who was down in the room that came off the basement, pumping iron and trying to be a bit normal, was fast in both getting between them and figuring out what was going on. The man mustn't of liked what he saw in the memory that Hazaar let him view because he more than bit Eshal's head off for her actions with him. A near-similar event happened the following day, after both he and Lhaklar received permission to do a hunt in Africa. Once night fell on June 28, 30, and July 11, Eshal turned her trouble-seeking eyes towards either he or Hazaar—they were either watching something on their room's tv or joshing around, and trying to air out their stresses by being a bit boisterous towards one of the friends that Lhaklar was allowed to have over on them nights.

As far as he could tell, Lazeer was still friends with Eli Mendelsohn—the two were talking on the phone a few days ago, and Lazeer did say that he had plans to go with Eli to the public pool today.

Hazaar had plans to use his remote-control helicopter today, while he was hoping to spend some time with Angus and Aubin. He wasn't sure on what was to happen with Lhaklar or Guyunis that day—neither had spoken a word on what they were going to do during breakfast, which had only just concluded about fifteen minutes ago. Their father was fast in saying that he was to stay at home and help their mother around the house; Eshal was told to leave the house, and to not come back to it for at least two to three hours that day, right after he spoke of his plans. Unless Eshal was planning on sticking around the front or backyard, which their mother was fast on drying with her powers after hearing that she was to receive "the boot" from the house, she was to spend some time on her own in town—he was surely not going to let her hang around him today, and he had a feeling that his brothers felt the same way. With the way Eshal was acting over the last month and a half, none of them really wanted her around them.

"Ma told Mr. Ballal some of what's going on under the roof of this place but she didn't tell him all of it—she left out how Eshal refused to get in on the festivities of Guyunis's birthday, and on how she was with me, Lhaklar, and Hazaar on the days that she targeted us, and on the blackmail that she tried to pull on Lhaklar on the thirteenth... but that's okay, seeing as her concern levels on Guyunis are as high as they are, and seeing as she's as frustrated as she is." Bile thought before checking his pockets for his house keys, and wallet. After seeing that all was on him that needed to be on him, he left the house then went to do as he spoke of doing during breakfast.

He presumed that, with the opening and then closing of the door, his oldest son left the house to do as he said he was going to do today. It looked like Hazaar's plans for the day were given a small change just recently, while everyone else's was still the same. Right after hearing that the front and back yards were dry, Hazaar dropped his whirlybird-thing, and its remote, on the dining room table then ran upstairs—something pertaining to his son's cooters was going on upstairs, which he was a trifle bit curious about.

Lazeer, who had a duffel bag that contained a towel, a change of clothes, and a few other items that weren't disclosed, was just now going past. While he was mortified over his son, who still sported that gash across his left eye, which was still taking its sweet time in healing, swimming in a pool that's water was filled with unknown chemicals and teaming with whatever bacteria that came from the ones that were swimming in it, he was trying to be positive—if anything happened, his son knew where home was and, above all, where his parents and the house's medicines were. His youngest-born son was leaving the house at the same time that Eshal did. He was glad to see that his daughter was doing as he told her to and he was also glad to see that the last two days were calm and peaceful. Most of the days of the current month weren't good for him or his family... It was nice to see that a little bit of cooperation with his young getting along, and that the house's atmosphere was tranquil instead of full of tension, was happening.

He never wanted to go through what he and his had gone through again. The life of a conqueror was suppose to be hectic and stressful when he was either at work on one of his realms or battling to either protect a realm that was in his control from one who wanted to take it from him or add more territory to his name; it wasn't suppose to be hectic and stressful at home, where he, or she, was suppose to be more rested and have a sort of "vacation" from work. With all of what Eshal had caused her brothers to go through in the last month and a half, he was seriously considering about giving them a little extra dough to blow on whatever they wanted in town. Eshal had, sadly, created a lot of trouble for not only herself but for him, which made him feel both enraged and frustrated, because the initiative of their stay here was now farther away instead of closer. Oh, he had managed to be a sport in returning Guyunis's many left-behind books to him, and in sticking up for him when his daughter started pestering him, but their relationship was still much the same. The only thing different about the boy was the fact that the curious look, that he use to have to him, where he looked to want to engage him in conversation, and wanted to know more about him, was gone. He was hoping that, in the not so distant future, it'd return and that he'd go on and do it—following Guyunis's birthday, he really wanted to get to know him.

"Knock the chip from your shoulder, Eshal." he remembered telling his daughter on more than two occasions during Guyunis's birthday.

Instead of wanting to learn more about the boy that'd be moving in with them in a couple of months, and getting in with the excited antics of the day, his daughter mostly sat in the living room. If she wasn't watching the tv, or looking out the window, she was waiting for one of her brothers to come into the room—instead of being the smart and mature teenager that he knew she was, she was much like a lion on the prowl. After the main meal, which was the mushroom cuisines, was prepared and then slid into the oven, Guyunis and the rest of the boys were called into the living room; the gifts were given to the boy at exactly ten-o-five in the morning. While Eshal looked bored while Guyunis was getting his gifts, he was taking notes on how the youngster reacted to what he was given.

"Looks like he's much like Bile in the music department—anything loud, noisy, or that'll put a good hurt in on the inner ears sometime down the road seems to be his preference." he remembered thinking after the CDs were received. When the guitar was brought out, shown, and then given to its new owner, he thought this, "The mansion will definitely _not_ be the same with one of the boys having that!"

There were a lot of things that he learned on the day that the boy progressed a year. One of them wasn't fully focused on the boy who turned a whole year older; Angel seemed to be surprised over the fact that Guyunis liked musical instruments, and was so keen on wanting to learn how to use one. Like his wife, he wasn't about to believe Lhaklar for a minute if he came out in saying that he found the guitar that he gave to Guyunis in the dump, or was given it for cheap. The B.C. Rich was too nice of an instrument to be thrown away or given to someone for less than a hundred dollars. Unlike his wife, who seemed to not be putting much effort into finding where it came from, or where the revenue for it came from, he was trying to drill their son for intel on how he gained the instrument—he was being smart in his questions but Lhaklar seemed to be smarter in knowing what he was trying to get from him. That was just as surprising as Hazaar's interest in wanting grilled leg of lamb, with streamed potatoes and carrots, for his birthday dinner; he had definitely not expected for his boy to put him off this long on getting the answers on that instrument.

"And motorcycles. Guyunis seems to get more and more unlike his father every day." he thought after the boy received the models that revolved around motocycles.

And his older half-brother, for that matter. While his father, the Fiercesome DuruVile Bolushi Surfeit, had a few motorcycles in his garage, he barely used them. He preferred his MarBenEdes over the other cars that he owned and used, and he seemed to have an issue in anyone in his family being an active user of the motobikes that they owned and drove. Guyunis's father only had one motorcycle in his garage, which was collecting a lot of dust due to being purchased and then stored in the building that was close to the house that its owner lived in. While he had a few motorbikes in his garage, he, too, was more preferring to the four-wheel vehicle that had a top and four sides to it. Of the ones in his family, it was really only Triskull who owned and used a bike for his primary vehicle. If not for the DNA results, that came from his grandfather's crazy DNA collector, he would really start to wonder if Guyunis wasn't Triskull's son—while the results showed that Triskull wasn't the boy's father, they did show that he was related to him... which was how they discovered that he was also a Surfeit. Angel was the one who put out the suggestion that all of them—him, Kuruk, his and Kuruk's father, and Trobrencus and his grown son, Trivit—to take the test to see who the father was. It was only after his father's results came in saying that he was a 99.99% match to Guyunis that they turned their attention to his grandfather, who refused to have any part in the traditional DNA testing. Apparently, the man had his own DNA testing kit in his ship; he went to collect it, then came back after being let back in the shield that was over Elchesheim-Illingen, then had his and Guyunis's blood tested through it—the paternal results, that came back from that machine, had shown conclusive proof that ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit was the boy's father.

The items that Eshal found at the dump for Guyunis—a sort of cuckoo clock, that looked rather tacky, but that Guyunis seemed to like, and a strange poster that, again, Guyunis seemed to like—were given to Guyunis after most of the festivities of the Big Day were done. From what his daughter told him, both items were up in the boy's room—regardless of the crap that Eshal gave him, Guyunis hadn't taken them down or thrown them out.

"Take it that you've forgotten what happened on the secondth of last month?"

"No,"

"Learned a lot about your mother on that day. She's a fiery one, and not one to cross, and can do well in taking care of both herself and her young on her own without any male party being involved to help her."

"Yes,"

"And your brothers—along with being a strong bunch, they're very normal for their age-range."

"Mhmmm."

"Don't suppose you miss home, and are trying to hurry our time here so you can get back to it?"

"I do, and I want to get back to it faster than what we are."

"The way that you're trying to hurry that process along isn't the way to do that. Been wondering if you're just going through the motions of having a lot of brothers to contend with, and are trying to find your place among them, for a while now—the boys don't look to be a crowd that's all that difficult to mingle or get along with, so I can't understand why you're acting the way you are. Enlighten me on what you're doing with your brothers, Guyunis included, and on why you can't just get along and be in peace with them."

The reply to his question on what was up with her was fast in coming. Eshal, though vague in her response, left more than enough clues on why she was acting the way she was with the boys. Along with speaking his peace on what was going on, he gave her a good piece of his mind on her behavior and on the consequences that could befall her is she continued doing as she was. Along with leaving her in the living room in tears, he left her with a small threat—if she didn't stop it with her brothers, another month would be tacked to their stay... and she'd be grounded for more than two weeks, with no cellular phone usage, allowance-giving, opportunities to write in her diary, or chances to sit down and take in a good, long, soothing breath.

They were here to regain the connection to their family, and to become established with Guyunis so, when the move to Moas was done, he wouldn't be but so freaked out; with Eshal's actions, she was preventing this from happening. Now that Daddy had spoken his mind on things, and learned that she wasn't just going through the motions of having more than two younger brothers to contend with, or exhibiting the typical signs of sibling rivalry with her brothers, he felt foolish and angered—instead of doing these things, Eshal was picking on her brothers for being what they were. She had also tried to play the role of one who pulled blackmail on another to get what they wanted.

"Mam, are you aware that Lhaklar's been swimming, in the nude, with female teenagers who are also naked?" he remembered Eshal asking her mother a few hours after she was spotted as trying to steal Guyunis's guitar.

Angel didn't know the happenings of April 8, where Lhaklar and Guyunis were seen as being with a group of teenagers who were skinny-dipping in the Scheidgraben river. Despite this, she didn't get on Lhaklar or Guyunis all that hard for what they did. She spoke with them on this, and learned that they were just doing something that other teenagers were doing in swimming in a free-way in some water source, but she didn't snap or ground them for any length of time. Angel simply heard what Eshal told her then nodded her head. She spoke to Lhaklar and Guyunis about an hour later on what she learned then she went on with the rest of her day. When Eshal tried blackmail again, this time concentrating on when Lhaklar infiltrated his ship on the first of February, a little more reaction from her was gained... but it didn't go in his daughter's favor, though. Angel, more or less, targeted him for attacking their son, who was disguised as him at the time, and then their two sons for one of them being caught and for the other disguising and then getting into a fight with a grown man who could of killed him.

He sat Eshal down about an hour and a half after her second attempt at blackmailing her brother was done. A lot was spoken on, and was gotten from both of their chests, and a lot was promised if events didn't change for the better. After getting on his daughter for her actions over the last month and a half, he went to the kitchen, where his wife and sons were—at the time that he was talking to Eshal, they were having dessert; due to Eshal's actions, she wasn't allowed to have any of what was served for that night's dessert course and, really, with his being in the mood that he was in, neither was he.

"Eshal, while being close to me, isn't that close as to be called my shadow, or a shadow-induced homebody. She has friends, and knows where she's allowed to travel to, and, except for in a few areas, has no limitations on where she can go, or what she can do on the property that the mansion's built on." he thought before taking his cellular from his inside jacket pocket. He wondered who it was that was texting him at this hour in the morning before shutting his thinker off then flipping the top of his phone down then taking in what was sent to him.

 _July 16, 4101, 9:05 AM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _You went against law in going elusive on us. What's going on? Everyone alive and well, or is something up for you to not send us correspondence?_

His response was worth ten texts. He told his stepfather all of what was going on under the roof that his wife owned, and that he and his were living under, then he waited for the response. Naturally, since he sent so many texts, it took the man a while to read and then respond to them. When the follow-up text was received, he opened then read it.

 _July 16, 4101, 9:19 AM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _Normal sibling rivalry is one thing and the uncalled for bullying that you described in your messages is another—do hope that you told her that, and that she should know better than to bully someone who's got a record for abuse like Guyunis does._

 _July 16, 4101, 9:23 AM  
_ _Surfeit, TazirVile Lajoshu; 771-543-3842_

 _Yes, I told her that, along with the usual of not now or after subsequent children are born or ever am I to allow for one of my children to bully one of their siblings or make them feel as if they are low on the totem pole. Each of my children are equal in status—made sure to tell that to both her and the boys the morning following my getting on her._

 _July 16, 4101, 9:28 AM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _You also speak with her on the music interests of the boys? No one can be the same, or like the same as others._

 _July 16, 4101, 9:32 AM  
_ _Surfeit, TazirVile Lajoshu; 771-543-3842_

 _Yes. I'm not about to get on or tell them to stop listening to what they've learned to like—Eshal's to start doing this now or there'll be consequences on the next offense. She'll just have to accept that they're different than her and that, when we're all on Moas again, her brothers are going to continue listening to their music and that she, I, and my staff will, on certain occasions, hear it from the room that its owner is in._

 _July 16, 4101, 9:40 AM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _Good to hear that I'm not speaking with your father._

Funny—his father and stepfather had never gotten along. While Cheshire simply went along with things whenever his father was around, his father was quick to either open his mouth on certain areas that the man did, or allowed, or he targeted him on certain things that shouldn't be targeted on. Cheshire Ubalki was a good man who had a good patient and understanding side to him; he was more than glad to have him as his Stepper, and that his mother met and then married him. From what he was told, his mother met Cheshire one day when she was running errands. A mutual attraction was discovered between them; after being friends for a few years, they started dating then, about twenty or so years later, the ring was presented then the nuptials were done. The two were a match made in heaven—it was quite apparent on how they acted around one another on how much they loved each other.

The Ubalki's, much like the Surfeit side of his family, didn't know about the pet situation that was going on with his sons; he contemplated for just a second on whether to break the news to the man on what his sons had acquired as pets before deciding to do the same with them on keeping them in the dark on the issue. Unless the subject came up, or they came over and saw the animals then started questioning them, he'd speak none on the pets that were owned by his sons and that were to also be moved to Moas.

"Them damn critters of Lazeer's have multiplied again." he thought after sending a follow-up text to his stepfather, then receiving a response to it in prompt order.

Lazeer, just before the first of the month rolled in, went out to get one of his species of critters a new cage. Along with being a lot bigger than the original one, it had a large water bowl that had a sort of aquatic plant in it. His... "Emperor Newts" must of been waiting for him to get that cage, and then move them to it because, on the morning following his getting that cage, then setting it up for them, then putting them in it, two of them laid a slew of eggs either in or near the water dish. His son was back to using the original container for them animals—he moved the adults to it, as a way to keep them from eating or trampling the eggs or what may or may not hatch from them. After relocating the adults, he took the cage that the eggs were in then moved it to his closet, where he said the eggs might "incubate" better, and the young might be better maintained after they leave their eggs. On estimate, he had around fifty or so eggs in that cage; if half to nearly all of them hatched, he feared that he'd encounter a bit of an issue in keeping up with their care—this was brought up the morning following their discovery. Lazeer claimed that he had plans to release all but a couple after the hatching and then "metamorphosing" into miniature forms of their parents occurred.

"According to the book that I withdrew from the library yesterday, they might be lighter or darker than their parents."

"Will you be able to tell which are the boys and which are the girls?"

"With their being smaller than an inch, no."

"Going to jus-k-t free-pick on who you're to keep, or are you basing wha-k-t you're to keep on their colors, or how big-k they are?"

"Think I'll do both."

That conversation, he remembered, happened after he asked his son about what he was going to do with his critters' babies. Guyunis and Lazeer had spoken on the issue of what was kept and what wasn't for about five minutes before going back to their meal. Lhaklar, though looking to be relieved over hearing that his brother wasn't to keep all of the babies, had spoken on his brother needing to separate the males from the females so further babies wouldn't be born, and so the population could be better maintained. Angel was fast in silencing him, and in saying that Lazeer was the one to make that decision. Angel seemed to be fine with the animals in the house replicating, and with the boys going out to release the ones that were captive bred. In all honesty, he was fine on the former rather than the latter—after the move to Moas was done, the captive-bred individuals couldn't be released to the wild; they could be sold, or simply culled, but they couldn't be released. They could do damage to the already present lifeforms that were on the planet if they were.

 _July 16, 4101, 9:54 AM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _While it's nice to hear from you, and what all you've gone through this past month and a half, I need to speak with you on me coming over and spending time with the grandkids._

 _July 16, 4101, 9:57 AM  
_ _Surfeit, TazirVile Lajoshu; 771-543-3842_

 _Seeing as how Guyunis is right now with me, I'm not so sure that now is the right time. Maybe you, and Mother, and your children can do so in the next couple of months to year or so._

 _July 16, 4101, 10:05 AM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _And, by then, I'll be experiencing certain issues that'll drive my family insane. Didn't say that I wanted to come over right away, but I would prefer to come over and see the boys, and Eshal, sooner than what you've mentioned._

 _July 16, 4101, 10:10 AM  
_ _Surfeit, TazirVile Lajoshu; 771-543-3842_

 _What do you propose?_

 _July 16, 4101, 10:17 AM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _Let things drop to a very comfortable level, and let Guyunis get use to and gain a relationship with you, before dropping a line and saying that my ticket's ready. I won't stay for months on end, but I will promise to be there for a month or two._

 _July 16, 4101, 10:22 AM  
_ _Surfeit, TazirVile Lajoshu; 771-543-3842_

 _Let me speak with Angel, and get her opinion on this; I'll get back to you on your proposal soon._

 _July 16, 4101, 10:26 AM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _Excellent. Hoping that she agrees because I'd like to see and spend some time with her too. She is my daughter-in-law, after all, and we do need to do a rekindling of our relationship as well._

 _July 16, 4101, 10:22 AM  
_ _Surfeit, TazirVile Lajoshu; 771-543-3842_

 _Seeing as you are who you are, I don't think she'd be against you coming over to see her and the kids. Unfortunately, I need to go now. Lhaklar and Guyunis are trying to steal down the hallway that the front door is on; need to intercept and then see what they're up to._

 _July 16, 4101, 10:32 AM  
_ _Ubalki, Cheshire Keueitt; 912-767-0956_

 _Thank you, and good luck on intercepting them two grandkids of mine. Tell everyone hi for me._

"Ahem, where are you two headed?" TazirVile asked the two boys that were trying to steal past. He closed his phone then placed it on the table.

"Ah man!" Lhaklar mock cried.

"You said we wouldn't be seen!" Guyunis elbowed Lhaklar in the ribs playfully.

"Boys," the long, drawn-out call made them snicker; Lhaklar was a little slow in responding to it.

"There's a movie being played in Rastatt that we, and some of my friends, would like to see." Lhaklar said after getting control of himself.

"What's the name of this movie?" TazirVile asked.

"Them!—it's one of them old movies that's been dug from archives then shown in certain theaters where its thought a decent amount of money will be made from it" Lhaklar explained.

"You two sure you're going to a theater, and not to some location that you're trying to pull off as being a theater?" TazirVile asked.

"Yes." Guyunis was fast in saying.

"Alright. Have fun in what you're to watch. Don't spend too much on what the venue's offering in junk food, and don't get into trouble."

The old man was probably too shocked over hearing that Guyunis spoke to him to ask any further questions, or get up then give the signal that he was to follow them to their destination. While the 1954 film, Them!, was being shown in one of Rastatt's two movie theaters, they weren't to just watch it... or get in the traditional way to do so. In order to watch it, and the film that came on after it ended, they were going to sneak in via the back door then claim a seat on the balcony—Jarvis and his girlfriend, who knew nothing on her fella's activities on the nineteenth of last month, were to meet them there.

The trip to the theater wasn't pre-planned—Jarvis, about ten minutes ago, threw two to three pebbles at his bedroom window and he, who was thinking about grabbing the book that Hazaar gave to him on Christmas, then getting a hard-on while reading/looking at it, had gone to investigate what he wanted. After hearing what Jarvis and Ivonne were up to, and what films they were about to see, and what they were to do after the movies were done in being watched, he agreed to both go with them and bring Guyunis with him. After going across the hall, then telling Guyunis what was up, then seeing that he was interested in coming, he led them down the stairs; after exiting the stairs, they spoke on how they were going to get past the old man and on, if they were caught in trying to sneak out of the house, what they were to say if they were caught. So far, everything looked to be going well—they were out of the house, and were teleporting to their destination, and they had no adult figure with them to "keep them anchored".

"Both are Sci-Fi's, righ-k-t?" Guyunis asked after they teleported to the FORUM Rastatt movie theater, which looked relatively new among the old buildings that were around it.

"Yeah, the second one was released in 1972." Lhaklar replied.

"Cool."

The brick to brick and vinyl buildings, that surrounded the theater, looked relatively city-like and cozy while the theater, which looked to be made out of all glass, didn't. The booth, that was just under the overhanging roof, had glass windows on three of its four sides; the human, that was manning it, was ugly and mid-aged. They automatically knew they couldn't bypass him. After stealing around the building's side, and trying their best to not trip up on the ancient cobbled walkway that was under their feet, they started looking for a door to go in. It took them all of a minute to locate an exit that they could use—either Jarvis and Ivonne were already inside, and had looked out for them by propping the door open with a piece of wood, or the janitor left it open so he wouldn't have to worry about the hassel of opening and then closing it. They opened the door, then went in, then halfway closed it behind them—who knew, maybe someone else might want to see the building's movies and didn't have the cash to do so or something.

Once in the building, they went along with the humans as if they were given entrance via the booth's proprietor. He got himself an Icee, a small container of popcorn, and, at the last second, a box of Cookie Dough Bites; Guyunis also got himself an Icee, and a small container of popcorn, but he skipped on the Cookie Bites. He got a box of Sour Patch Kids instead. Once their drinks and snacks were purchased, and they were on their way to the room where the movies were being played in, they felt calm and very blended into their environment—getting into the room was easy, as was the chore of finding the stairs that'd take them to the balcony and then finding themselves a seat.

Javis and Ivonne, and two of Jarvis's friends, were seen about a minute to two minutes later; they relocated to where they were then simply sat back and waited for the two movies to be shown.

"Take it that the Board Police are looking for either you or Ivonne?" Lhaklar asked after getting himself situated.

"Probably." Jarvis replied, with a wink. There was a large cup of Coca-Cola in the cup holder of his seat, which had a single straw in it; on his lap sat a medium-sized container of popcorn, which Lhaklar knew was for himself and his girlfriend.

"Never is very hard to get in here. Getting snacks when the old man, and the dupe that he hired for security detail, are around is, though." one of Jarvis's friends said.

"Yeah, and it's not easy on one's wallet when they have a certain someone who about cleans them out when they get to the snack bar either." Jarvis joked. Ivonne, who had two boxes of snowcaps on her lap, and an open box of Gummy Worms in one of her hands, gave him a slap on the arm regardless of his joke.

"You hardly spent a coin while at the snack bar." Ivonne said.

"Yeah, because I took everyone's order then "snuck" what was wanted under the counter." the second of Jarvis's friends said.

"Dude! Reimburse us!" Guyunis shot in a joke-like manner.

"What'd you two spend? While at the bar, I managed to sneak €75 from one of the registers, so I can gladly reimburse you for what my old man jipped you on."

"€11 euros for him, €14 for me." Lhaklar replied.

While he was aware of Jarvis having other friends besides Seth, Astor, and Abelle, he didn't know that he had befriended the son of the theater's owner, or someone that was a school drop-out. Judah Sachs, the man who owned the theater, was known for two things—he was big on business, and for being hard on his two sons for continuing in his footsteps, and taking over for him when he decided to kick the bucket. Sid Sachs, the younger of his two sons, was still on "janitorial duty"—Judah claimed that he wasn't to be "promoted" until he saw change in how he managed and then maintained a euro—while his older brother had been working the concession or snack bar for nearly four years. Menahem Sachs was a big, burly, twenty year old who stood a fraction of an inch over five foot, seven inches; his brown hair was moderately curly, and his eyes were dark green. He was wearing all formal attire—a white shirt, blue pants, and black shoes.

Menahem reimbursed him and Guyunis for what they spent at the snack bar then sat back in his seat; after having his €14 returned to him, then sliding it into one of his available pockets, Lhaklar chanced a look at Jarvis's other friend.

Giovanni Sordi, the five foot, six and a half inch seventeen year old, that was to Menahem's left, was decently muscled for an Italian. His family was just fifty years arrived to Germany, so he was the first generation to be born and raised here. With his big nose, olive skin, and dark brown hair, he did look to be Italian; his deep set, dark blue eyes really set him off as being of the Italian race! Even though he was five foot, six and a half inches tall, he had a strong set of arms on him... which were almost completely covered in tattoos. Giovanni, from what he learned from Jarvis one day when they were simply sitting around, smoking cigarettes and passing the time away, had dropped out of school after pulling time in jail, and having to repeat the tenth and eleventh grade twice. Instead of being raised by both of his parents, or by someone who was related to his parents, Giovanni was being raised by his adult cousin, who was both fifteen years older than he and had a history in drugs and alcohol.

Menahem and his little brother, who was some five to six years younger than he, were being raised by just their father. After the divorce, which occurred when Sid was around two or so years old, Judah never remarried or even bothered in looking for a female to aid him in the raising of his sons.

"Do think I have a set of non-bubblegum green eyes looking at me." Giovanni said just before the first film started.

"Was is that obvious? I apologize." Lhaklar said.

"Not offended. Take it that your dark-skinned buddy is also looking at me?" a simple glance told him that Guyunis was, indeed, looking at Giovanni... or, more specifically, at the tattoos that were on his arms. Due to Giovanni wearing a black and gray, sleeveless shirt and a black leather jacket, that was also sleeveless, both he and Guyunis could see all of what he had on his arms.

"He's got an interest in tattoos," Lhaklar said in explanation to his brother's staring. After getting his brother's attention, he told him to not stare at Giovanni; after telling him this, he looked forward. It was quiet between the six of them before a small chuckle was heard.

"Good interest to have but be warned that you need know a good, reputable person who doesn't use already used needles, and that you need to be tough in order to get them. Judging by your friend, I think he'd be able to get a tat and not throw a squawk all while it's being applied to him." Giovanni said.

"Brother, not friend." Lhaklar corrected.

"Serious? You two don't look related."

"While he is related to me, he's adopted."

"Good reason for him to not resemble you." Giovanni had obviously heard only part of what he told him.

The movie on the mutant ants, that reek havoc on a New Mexico town, and that only got to their giant size thanks to the radiation that came from the Atomic bombs that were detonated near Alamogordo, New Mexico, was corny, and crappy, but entertaining. Them! was one of the first of the 1950's "nuclear monster" movies and it was also the first "big bug" feature—the effects did show this well. The movie that was shown after Them! was of equal crappy, corny, goodness. Night of the Lepus was about a colony of mutated, carnivorous killer rabbits that create chaos in a small, Arizona town. Due to the rabbits looking to be hopping around rigged up town sets, and humans dressed in bunny suits attacking certain actors, they knew that its budget wasn't very good... but they still enjoyed the movie, regardless of them flaws.

They ate their snacks, drank their beverages, then, when the movies were over, stashed what they had left on their persons. Unlike the experience that he had in the Kulisse Kino movie theater, which was located in the Rheinland Kaserne, which was in Ettlingen, where he found himself going down an aisle that was littered with all sorts of popcorn and other snacks that the ones in the balcony had thrown in their "hysteria" over the events that happened in the movie Attack of the Tumbleweeds, and finding himself almost glued to the floor in the process thanks to everything being sticky and on the soles of his feet, his exit of the theater was clean and trouble-free. Before exiting the theater, he purposely passed the snack bar—three boxes of Cookie Dough Bites, two boxes of Junior Mints, one box of Sour Patch Kids, and four boxes of Gobstoppers were spell-sent to his room, where they'd remain until he got home then did a little surprising of everyone by treating them to what he took from the building. After leaving the building, then following Jarvis and Ivonne down an alley that was shielded on one side by buildings and on the other by a chain-link fence, he and Guyunis found themselves as stopping before a blue, four-door, Ford F-1600 XT.

"For the ones that get in, be warned—Jarvis is very foot heavy on the pedal, so be sure to have them seatbelts wrapped around you tightly." Ivonne said after her boyfriend unlocked the front passenger door then started towards the driver's side of the vehicle. "As for the ones who take a seat in the cab, don't dig in with your nails too much. Jarvis isn't one for buffing out them scratches, and his aunt and uncle don't like to shell out the money to get them removed by someone in the shop either."

It amazed him that Jarvis and Ivonne were still an item. Even though they were dating for a little over a half-year now, both knew that they slept around on one another. While he knew this little detail, his brother didn't and that went double for his mother—if she knew of how his friends were with each other, she'd demand that he both end their friendship and stay away from them. His father, for all he knew, might do the same thing. Jarvis and Ivonne, despite the sleeping around thing, were cool people and, like Bile, he was hoping to spend as much time as he could around them before the move to Moas was done.

His father surprised them the other night by speaking with their mother on her cellular plan. Apparently, the man tried to call her one day when he was on Moas—he wasn't able to get through because there was an issue with their two service providers. The man said something about his mother's plan being single-planet worthy and needing to be upgraded to allow for contact with others who weren't on the planet to happen; after asking her about her service provider, then asking if she'd like to upgrade to the service that he had on his phone, he was given the go to put his plan on her phone. His mother could now have contact with anyone in the Universe; she was now no longer under threat of having her service be turned off after the move was made.

During the conversation on the cellular phone providers, he thought about asking the man if he'd allow him and his brothers to continue being friends with the ones that they had befriended. Even though this idea came to him, he didn't go through with it. Rather curiously, when he turned his gaze towards his mother after her and his father's conversation ended, he noted that she had a little twinkle going on in one of her eyes—a little light bulb went off in his head about her knowing what he wanted to ask; due to that little twinkle, he was under the assumption that she had something planned that involved their being able to stay in contact with their friends.

He hoped that she did have something in the works on this matter because he was much like his brothers on the friend-keeping situation—while he knew that new friends would come into being after the move to Moas was done, he did have a wish to keep the ones that he currently had for a while longer.

"Take us to The Pit, Jarv!" Giovanni said after he, and Guyunis, got into the truck's cab. With his not being one for trucks, or for riding in a truck's cab, he opened one of the truck's back doors then got into one of the available back seats.

The Pit could be one of three possible locations. There was a simple bar down the road; along with being called The Pit, it catered to both bikers and to folk who were either of the non-straight or halfway straight variety. Going by the direction that Jarvis took after he started the truck then drove it from where it was parked, they weren't going to that place. There was a type bar/gym that was called the same thing near the junkyard, and there was also the place where coal use to be found at but which was now pretty hollowed out, and was known to harbor certain gems that people found and then sold to jewelers for a profit.

Guyunis was busy with Giovanni; with the guy having such an interest in tattoos, he was now able to get some answers on them. He also had someone who had a similar interest to his to talk to. Jarvis, as Ivonne had said, was very foot-heavy on the gas pedal, so Giovanni and Guyunis were also goofing around in saying that they were about to be thrown from the truck if he didn't slow down. Ivonne was just staring from the window that was beside her, while he was doing nothing but wondering about their destination. His wondering mind, no more than twenty minutes later, was answered—they went not to the pit where certain gems could be found in but to the gym/bar that was located in the center of Rastatt. In a way, he had to hide the smile from forming on his face—good time with friends, maybe a drink or two, and some time in the gym were on the horizon for him and Guyunis.


	21. Chapter 21

"How can it breathe with that thing on?" Annelise wondered while looking at the screen of her tablet, which was showing a re-run of the news that was aired that morning.

"Bet it can swim real good." Thede, who was looking over her sister's arm, said.

"Pretty eyes." Rainmund said.

Yes, but everything else looked bizarre on it. One of the two alien families, that moved to the Americas but didn't want to be shown on tv for fear of ridicule, was seen as leaving a store in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California yesterday afternoon; a passing motorist was fast in both stopping and documenting what she saw. This family, which consisted of three individuals, was said to of received some sort of monetary assistance from someone who lived where they came from. Instead of using what they got to move from the planet, they used it to move from the community that they settled in in June to a different one that was in Death Valley. With the way this family looked, they didn't look to belong in the area that they moved to.

The tallest member of the family looked to be of the male gender. His skin was a mixture of brown, green, and light yellow; he had this thing around his head that looked to have water, or some sort of clear liquid, in it. As if to give credence to his already odd appearance, he had moss growing out from his armpits. The sides of his arms, and neck, had a set of gills on them; when he moved one of his hands, they were able to see that he had webbing between his fingers... and a sort of spike or something sticking out from the flesh of his palms.

As Rainmund had pointed out, this creature had a set of rather pretty eyes. They were a very faint purple color; the ovular pupils, that were in their centers, were a little darker than they were.

Except for having faint red, pink, and purple skin, and barely noticeable gills on the parts that the species looked to have gills on, the mature female of the family looked very much like her partner. The two's child, which looked of the female gender, had a mixture of their skin colorations. At first glance, the creature looked to lack the gills that her parents had—it was only when the camera was zoomed in that they were seen.

"Wonder what the other family looks like." Annelise said after the mature female alien noticed the civilian with the camera. The alien ran towards her child then scooped her up; on the screen of her tablet, she watched as the family "ran" to where a strange vehicle was. No sooner had they gotten in the car before speeding off then getting "lost" in the distortions that the area's heat was generating.

She also wondered why the family didn't use what was given to them to leave the planet. Surely, with all the negativity that was being thrown around in the Americas about the non-human occupants that were slowly trickling in to fill the homes that were prepared for them, they would of moved to some other planet where they'd be better received. According to the news report, that aired both last night and this morning, five more families moved into the Americas—despite heavy opposition, and the apparent disregard to their safety by their new "ruler", they were still on the planet and in the homes that they moved into. No images or video was known to exist on these families, so it was presumed that they were doing as the two families that were trying to play the low-game were.

It was the matter of why the second of the three original alien families, that moved to the planet and then found themselves as being unable to leave, moved to a town that wasn't prepared for their occupation that she was mostly centered on. Was this family trying to integrate among her own kind, or were they of a highly social people that wanted to have someone around them to speak or become involved with, or was something else going on that wasn't known to anyone? With their looks, they definitely didn't look to belong in the hottest known location in North America—if anyone had asked her, with their wet-looking skin, fishbowl-like adornment over their heads, and gill-like openings, they belonged more in a semi-tropical area instead of where they were.

The more noticeable of the three original alien families didn't seem to be all that shy about being on the news. They were seen almost two to three times a day, so there were a lot of updates being shown on them. The family's sick-looking, male child looked a little better, while one of the healthy adults looked to be getting sick, and one of the older members of the family was missing. Her fader, much like her mutter, her, and, she presumed, the others who were also curious about this family, was very focused on the facial and emotional features of the family's still-sighted members—as far as she could tell, there were no signs of distress or grieving present on the members of the family that were still seen to account for the missing member. For all she knew, the member who hadn't been seen in nearly a week might be fine and just doing some R and R in her and her family's house.

"Unless they don't show emotions, or are quick to grieve over their dead, that is." she thought while putting her tablet in the bag that she brought along.

"We almost there, datty?" Thede asked their father.

"Another few miles," their father replied.

"Is Mr. Irene still there?" Annelise asked.

"Yes, as is his daughter."

"Wonder if he'd tell us a few things about the families that moved into the Americas." Annelise thought.

"When we get there, do me a favor and don't pester Mr. Irene, or ask him all sorts of questions on who all's out there in the Universe, or who moved into the Americas." her father must of read her mind; she felt her cheeks turn for just a second as she blushed then turned to look out the window.

"Datty, you need to put a sign in here. The Irene's rode in here that one night... it might get famous for that." Thede said.

"It might get a few heads turning, and some attention after I decide to retire this thing." Stefan said with a chuckle.

"What's retire?" Thede asked.

"Remember how your Uncle Ekerd says how he's going to put his dog to pasture?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's retire."

"Oh, okay." Thede seemed happy with the answer to her question, which, her sister knew, wasn't the whole truth to the matter. Uncle Ekerd's dog was in his mid-teens, so it was heading on that time where it was time to put him down—or put him to pasture, as their uncle continued to call it.

Her fader, during the middle-part of last month, had said something about taking a trip to Elchesheim-Illingen. He wanted to visit the woman who was both their planet's heroine and his friend, who was experiencing a few issues on her end that weren't all that known to her or her siblings. Due to all of what her fader was going through at work, he had to miss out on going to see her—some woman named Bettina Gottlieb was giving him trouble; he was doing his best to keep her "contained" and go on with work and home life. According to the news a few days ago, Mrs. Gottlieb was now looking towards the next presidential race, which was to happen in three years; her fader, just that morning, was heard as saying to his bruder that, if she was serious in going through with it, and won her bid for the presidency, she'd not be the best of presidents picked for the country. Uncle Ekerd, who was four years older than her fader, had asked the question on whether her fader was going to run for another term; her fader said that he'd give it a good consideration in two years.

In a way, she hoped that he both did and didn't go through another term as being the country's president. While the polls said that most of the country's population was happy with how he was running Germany, and with how he was sticking to the promises that he made during his campaign, there were some out there that were pointing out negative things that revolved around both him and her family that weren't true. The eighteen months that he was running and campaigning for the presidency weren't good for her or her family—they missed him, and terribly too. With his having to be on the road, appearing at conventions or rallies, or just making surprise appearances at places where he needed to garner enough support for his campaign, he wasn't able to be at home as much as she and her siblings, and their mutter, wanted him to. After he won the campaign, things settled down a little; he started staying at home more, and being more involved in family affairs, and attending the dinners that all of their family should be in attendance for. It was the fact that everyone seemed to point their fingers at him whenever something went wrong, or that he sometimes got to being so busy that he wasn't able to do anything with her and her siblings, or was so tired that he had to miss-out on the family meals, that she didn't like. Her fader was a good man, who tried his best in everything that he did, and who had everyone's interests and safeties in mind; he didn't deserve all of what was being thrown at him. The thing that worried her most was that most politicians grew gray in the hair department after they won the slot for their country's presidency—it was the stress of the job and she knew it and she worried that the stress from her fader's job was going to make him grow gray and wrinkled way before his time.

Thede sometimes messed their fader's hair up when he came in from work—she just grabbed and hugged him then, while he hugged her back, ran her hands through his hair... and he let her! As of the last few months, she was paying particular attention to this activity of her sister's—looking for gray, or strands that were lighter than they should be, or areas where his hair was thinning. Her fader, while in his mid-fifties, and a little on the obese side, was healthy, strong, and still as youthful as ever. No signs of gray, balding, or lightness was going on in his hair, which she thanked God for. Her fader was going to get old one day, yes, and she and her siblings were going to have to watch as he grew wrinkled and gray, yes, but that wasn't going on right now. She really did hope that, after the four years for his term were up, he'd still look the same. A few weeks ago, when she eavesdropped on a phone conversation between her fader and his doctor, she overheard his doctor saying that, while he was five pounds lighter, he was on-schedule for everything and that nothing negative came up in the tests that he took once every four to six months—this was a load off her shoulders!

Her fader was just a year and five days into his term as the country's president, so he had a while to go before any considerations came in on his going for another term, or showed the signs of his job. From what she had seen in school, and through general curiosity while being in one of Berlin's three-known libraries, it took about two years before any signs of stress or work-generated aging to be noted in one who won his, or her, bid for a nation's presidency.

"Sure looks nice here," her mutter said after they turned onto Zweig Straße, a stretch of road that belonged to the Grün Bach subdivision, where her fader's friend and her family lived in.

"The people in this corner of the country have been getting lots of rain... and wind. As of the last week, the anemometers in the weather stations in this part of the country have logged winds of up to forty miles an hour." her fader said.

"Bet that's nice—our part of the country's been getting a bit too much snow, or is too warm, lately. Been hoping that we'll experience a normal spell of summer weather sometime before winter sets in."

"If it ever comes and decides to be normal, you mean."

The experts who predicted and charted the weather were all saying that last year was the oddest on record for what was experienced. Along with having days where it was cold and snowy, they had days where it was blisteringly hot, or where it rained for longer than usual. So far, this year's weather was heading towards a near-similar trend that was alarming to both her parents and the people who did the weather. Really, the only thing different about this year's weather was the fact that certain storms were procurring more than enough tornadoes and that it rained in certain places for nearly a month. Before reaching their destination, she reached into her bag then pulled out the newspaper article that was nestled neatly between the pages of her hardcover copy of Black Beauty.

From the Berlin _Berliner Zeitung_ , August 6, 4100 (Page 1)  
New York Joins Mexico City In Madness Construction

That was what the article's headline said; she couldn't agree more with what was written in it, and with how the people of North America felt about how their city looked. Tolukack Puvran, while sticking to some of the plan that he mentioned on the sixteenth, had also done a bunch of new things with New York that were getting more than the American's heads turning. She and her siblings, on the day that the city's new layout was exposed, were shocked by what they saw.

According to the history books, New York City was located in one of the planet's natural harbors. Along with being very populous, it compromised of five boroughs, which, up to recently, use to be separate counties in the state. During reconstruction, Master Vile combined all of them then signed a document saying that they were a single city—Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island no longer existed; it was now just New York City that they were called. This whole, large city looked very weird now. It no longer looked uniform; it, more or less, looked like a pair of pants that had more than a few patches sewn into it.

The former-Manhatten part of the city was still intact, as were the island parts of Queens. Staten Island was mostly bulldozed and then rebuilt from scratch while Brooklyn, The Bronx, and the rest of Queens was half-bulldozed and then rebuilt. The oddly shaped structures, that were made out of clay and either blue, orange, or purple glass, were present in the city, as were the odd church-like buildings. There were more than a dozen of these structures that looked about ready to fall over in the city as well—they were a yellowish-orange color and, oddly enough, made of clay. Rather interestingly, some of the old streets were still intact; the streets that hovered in space were present, but were few in comparison to the remaining ones that were already in the city. There were certain sidewalks that had a step-like system built into them, that looked to move once someone stepped on them, and there were a few bridge-like things in the city that still looked to be under construction.

There use to be a complex of seven World Trade Centers in New York City. After the events of September 11, 2001, where some people working for al-Qaeda hijacked a few planes then flew them into the complex's two taller buildings, all were either destroyed or deemed as being too damaged to be kept standing. While plans were underway for a new set of seven buildings to be erected in the city was started, and was around a quarter of the way finished, they weren't completed—the back-to-back plagues of 2016-2019 caused construction to come to a permenant halt; only One World Trade Center, or Freedom Tower, as it was sometimes called, and 4 World Trade Center, and 7 World Trade Center were built and then equipped with tenants. Of them three centers, only one remained—Master Vile, the evil war lord and warlock who took over the Americas last year, declared that only one of them was needed; while he had the other two demolished, he had yet to announce what was to take their place. The man, most thankfully, was leaving the memorial, which was opened to the public on September 11, 2011, and the museum, which opened in May 21, 2014, where they were—the descendants of the people involved in the September 11 attacks were said to be heaving breaths of relief thanks to this action of his.

The Unisphere, that was built in Queens in 1965, was gone. Even though he was told that it was commissioned to celebrate the start of the space age, and that it represented both Earth and the theme of the 1964-1965 World's Fair, Master Vile said that it was a silly item that wasn't needed in the park that it was in. The Statue of Liberty, the neoclassical statue that was gifted from the people of France to the United States on October 28, 1886, was also gone—with Master Vile saying that the Americas were "forbidden" from having any sort of contact with the western hemisphere nations, it was deemed as not needed anymore; the same notion occurred with the Headquarters of the United Nations, which use to be in Manhatten.

Like with Mexico City, there was a taller than tall structure in the city—except for being a whitish-blue color, it looked almost like the one that was in Mexico City.

"When he's overthrown, I can see all of this construction that he's implemented in the Americas being dismantled and then the old design plans being done over them." her fader, she recalled, told his bruder last night, before going to bed.

"You mean _if_ he's overthrown." Uncle Ekerd replied.

"No, when. The man won't be in power for long with everyone in the nations that he has control of hating him the way they do."

"Stefan, the man's not normal, and he's been in power for over a year now. Think it's time to face the cards in knowing that he'll be around for a while."

"I give him a few years."

"May I point out that you said that last year? Come now, you're a smart man. You and I both know that nothing's to change overseas with who's in charge."

"Let's hope your words are wrong."

"True, but I doubt if they are."

She put the article back in the book then put the book back in her bag; she was just looking up when her sister gasped then grabbed her by the arm. When she looked up, she saw that not only had they arrived to their destination but that there was another car in the driveway and that there was a female alien walking about the front yard. Seeing these two things was too much for her. Once the car was parked, she undid her seatbelt then got out before her parents could say anything to her.

"Annelise!" her father called at her backside.

When the voice, that she heard on June 2, was heard, she turned to see where it came from. She was surprised when she saw a girl running past the trees that flanked the driveway's one side, and when she saw that she looked to be in her teen-years. The girl was about five foot, six inches; her chestnut-colored hair ran to about her shoulders. She was wearing a pink tie-dye shirt and blue jeans. Her blue and white sneakers looked appropriate for one who was in the years that she thought she was in. When the girl slid to a stop about ten feet from her, she saw that her eyes were a startling mix of gray, green, and gold—while she knew that she was a human, she couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't a hint of "alien" DNA in her, thanks to them eyes of hers.

After the girl slid to a stop, she saw that she had a feminine satchel bag on her that looked to have a few things in it. Seeing as her father had told her to mingle with the humans that were in the area, she went forward to both introduce herself and see what the girl wanted.

"Hey," Eshal said after approaching the girl.

"Hey," the girl replied.

"Eshal," seeing as she was on a planet that's denizens didn't seem to like saying or using them long-winded names, she decided to not say her full name.

"Annelise,"

"Nice to meet you," Eshal said. "Take it that you're human, and a teenager?"

"Yeah, and seventeen, if you're wondering."

"Two thousand, five hundred, and two." Eshal blurted before checking to see if what she was about to say was appropriate for who she was talking to. She was quick in explaining how old she was in regards to the humans. "I'm in my mid-teens."

"With Miss. Irene's kids being the ages that they are, I kinda figured that you was a mid-teenager."

"Annelise!"

A few hours ago, after lunch concluded and her family dispersed in different directions, she watched a film that was released on November 18, 1988—the scene where the mother dinosaur died after saving her son from the horrible meat-eating dinosaur made her cry, while the scene of the mother dinosaur and the dinosaur that had the three horns on his head separating their kids, who were doing nothing but playing with one another, made her feel angry. After watching the movie, then rewinding it to that infuriating scene, she got an understanding on what was going on. The daddy dinosaur was prejudice towards others who weren't of his own kind, and was stopping his daughter from playing with another of her age that wasn't of her species; after rewinding the movie further, she gained the knowledge of the mother dinosaur, while understanding the notion of why the planet's different species were separate-acting, and while telling her young son why each species went by their own, not liking the separation between the ones that were on the planet.

By the movie's conclusion, it looked like all of the characters had reconciled their differences and were living in harmony with one another in a valley, and it also looked like the kid-dinosaurs were allowed to play and make friends with one another.

What happened between her and the girl was reminiscent of that scene where the two parenting dinosaurs separated their kids from playing with one another. The man who came to her mother's house, then started trouble by harassing her father, stepped out from behind the trees; the girl reacted by backing away from her. After going five or six feet, she turned then went back to the man. The girl had no more joined the man, who she automatically deduced was her father, before an average-built woman, and two younger children, came up alongside them.

First that Ballal-man comes over, then makes himself at home, and now this family of five; she looked at the family, half of whom were either staring at or coming towards her while the other two were going towards the house's front door, before turning then going towards the door that'd give her access to her family's temporary residence's interior. The girl who introduced herself as Annelise, and the two younger children, who she figured were her siblings, stopped, shrugged their shoulders, then followed her to the house. She was a half-step ahead of the obese man and the woman who she figured was his wife when they reached the house; after entering the house, she gave out the word that they had company.

"What... is this family visitation hour or something?" Ajeet said after the Leinart family rounded the corner.

"Yeah." Stefan answered.

Instead of coming to Elchesheim-Illingen on his own, and leaving his ever-curious family behind in Berlin, he decided to bring everyone along. Along with thinking that a lengthy trip was needed, he thought that it was best to bring everyone along for not only himself but for the Irene's and, maybe, his friend's daughter, who, from what he was told, was still encountering issues in mingling with people of her own age. A talk with his friend occurred a week ago; along with disclosing his apologies over not being able to uphold his planned visit on the twenty-third of July, and hearing that Ajeet was also not able to come because of issues at work, he learned that Eshal was in the general age-range of his oldest daughter and that most everything in the Irene Household was back in order again.

Bettina Gottlieb, while still trying to get him impeached, wasn't getting all that much support anymore. It was learned fairly recently that the ones that were on her side were the ones who didn't like him, or were still "crushed" over his beating his competitor in a landslide during the elections; with most of the country either listening to her words but turning a blind eye to her, or just turning away from her, she was now promising to make a bid for the presidency, which would happen in three years. While it was still early yet, he was seriously considering the option of running for another term—it was a good job, and he liked and was good at it; unless his health slipped in the next two to three years, or something happened with his family that'd keep him from performing at his best, he saw no reason in not running for another term.

While Rosalinde was still referencing Miss. Irene as his friend instead of theirs, he figured that she'd still like the drive and the chance to see who their planet's heroine's husband and daughter were. On the twenty-third of October, when their family and the Irene's were attendants of the second-held Oktoberfest funfair, they learned a few things that his wife was still not totally approving of. He still thought that his friend was a good person, and that she had cause for considering the removal of one of her children from her was a favor—according to her, the child had a human for a fader and she wasn't able to give birth to living children who had that as a fader to them; he was still under the belief that she saw the removal as a favor in her not growing but so emotional over the eventual loss of that infant. Even after telling his wife this, she still regarded Miss. Irene as a friend to him instead of to them—with Rosalinde having lost two children before Annelise was born, and then having the scare of Annelise being born abnormally small, and needing to be put in the NICU for a while before being allowed to be brought home, and then being put on bed rest almost immediately after conceiving Rainmund, he would of thought that she'd understand why his friend saw reason in seeing one of her children being removed from her as being a favor. While his wife was no longer speaking in a heated tone of voice whenever Miss. Irene was brought up, he still saw a bit of disgust in her eyes that said she was still unapproving of what his friend considered as a favor.

Annelise, while doing as he had hoped she would in approaching Eshal, had done so in the wrong light. Instead of running up to her, then engaging in conversation with her right away, he wanted her to be inside and then supervised for a short duration of time before being allowed to go off and spend some time with her. With Thede and Rainmund being as old as they were, he and Rosalinde were just going to keep them around them—that way, they wouldn't bother their sister and Eshal while they did as he hoped they would and not bug his friend's other kids crazy.

Seeing that Ajeet was here was a surprise. He hadn't expected for him to come over, or to be visiting the Irene's at the same time that he and his family were. After being led into the house by Eshal, then seeing Eshal walk off to some other part of the house, he approached Ajeet then asked him what he wanted to know.

"When'd you get here?"

"Fifteen, twenty minutes ago." Ajeet replied. "Why?"

"Anything happen after you were let in?"

"No. No fireworks happened, though Mr. Surfeit was a bit reluctant to let me be anywhere near his wife, or be with her when he wasn't around... and Eshal was bit put-off by her bruders' actions towards me."

"Actions?" Stefan asked.

"Seems that they've not had much company these past few weeks... or they missed me—their mum mostly let them speak and have me all to themselves for ten minutes before telling them to "scram"." Ajeet replied.

"In a way, expect for the same to happen with me." Stefan thought before doing a little jolt then turning to leave the house. He was gone for all of three minutes; when he returned, he had a bag with him that looked rather hefty.

"Uh, let me warn you that Mr. Surfeit might not like the idea of you moving in." Ajeet said after seeing the bag.

"Very funny."

Eshal was slow in coming around the corner. Her parents were in the kitchen; along with trying to get matters straight on the house's first guest, they were trying to incorporate the issues that were now coming up about the guests that just came in. It was very apparent that they weren't to see the new people to the house right away, which scared her a bit—if not her parents then who was to welcome to newcomers to the house? Seeing as she neither knew nor really wanted to be around the people who seemed to be showing the same signs that the people who lived in the Americas were showing to the ones who were moving in among them, she made a quick trip upstairs to see Lhaklar; after knocking on his closed bedroom door, then telling him that there were more people in the house, and that their parents weren't available to see them in, she came downstairs to see what was up.

Lazeer was the first to throw himself at the first guest. Mr. Ballal, as the man introduced himself as, was shown the babies of her brother's pet newts, then was shown these two video games and models that her brother just got through buying, before being left alone. Left alone by Lazeer, that was. Right after Lazeer went upstairs to return his baby newts to his bedroom, Lhaklar came down with the models that he built over the last few months—along with asking for intel on how Mr. Ballal was doing, her brother showed him the model of something called a "Bed Buggy", a Paddy Wagon, a 1960's Ford Starliner Hardtop, a 1909 Hupmobile, and of this Desert Fox Rommel's Rod thing that had two skeletons in it. Before leaving to take his models back upstairs, her brother told their visitor that he was in the process of building a skeletalized version of a French twist streamliner 1922 Gerin—this caused their guest to jump, then engage him in more conversation on cars... or, more specifically, on that particular model.

Bile took Lhaklar's place about two minutes later. He and Mr. Ballal simply spoke on how things were going in the house; before going upstairs, the shark-tooth sword was mentioned, then brought down and showed. Following Bile's retreat, Hazaar and Guyunis came down. Hazaar just talked the man to death, while Guyunis showed him the guitar that he received on his birthday then spoke on this friend of his that her father didn't really like all that much. After they were done with jumping at Mr. Ballal, the rest of her brothers came down then started taking up seats in the living room; they spoke with Mr. Ballal for another five minutes before being told by their mother to go up stairs and let her and their father have their guest for a little while before he decided to go home.

With the way her brothers were acting around Mr. Ballal, she was embarrassed. Her parents were barely able to get word edgewise to the man, or spend any time with him. Was this how her brothers acted when visitors came over? Did they jump, then keep the visitor, or visitors, to themselves, and make that visitor, or visitors, feel uncomfortable, or was there something else at work here that she wasn't aware of? Her father had sure looked upset over her brothers' actions while her mother looked a little annoyed but okay with what was going on—that surprised her. She had figured that her mother would get on her brothers for what they were doing and then take over in seeing what their guest wanted before seeing him out; instead, she just let them have the man to themselves.

Instead of mingling with the company that came over, or talking or becoming involved in the too-excited antics of her brothers, she left the room right after her mother started talking to him. She was only five minutes outside when the new guests were seen as driving past, and when the teenage girl named Annelise was seen as coming past the trees that flanked the driveway's left side.

"A normal guest would come empty-handed..." she thought after seeing that the taller, and more robust of the two male humans, had a hefty bag on him.

"Hey there," the taller, more robust man said after seeing her.

"Hello."

"Eshal, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"While we've seen one another before, it's nice to meet you in a bit calmer setting."

"S-same here," Eshal returned. "My mam and daddy are in the kitchen. Think it'll be a while before they come in to see you."

"With your mutter's permission, me and mine won't be leaving for a while so we'll have plenty of time to see you and your family."

"She seems a bit shy, Stef." the woman, who was five foot, six and a half inches tall, and had long, brown hair and a rather pretty set of blue eyes set in her pretty face, was heard as whispering into the robust man's ear.

"Because she doesn't knows us." the man named "Stef" was heard as whispering back.

While she had periods where she was shy towards certain people, she wasn't really being shy towards the newcomers to the house. She was, more or less, apprehensive towards going towards or speaking to them. She feared that, if she did either, they'd target her for being who she was—she wasn't stupid, and her parents weren't keeping what was going on in the Americas away from her or her brothers. The human race was notoriously famous for acting a bit negative towards people who weren't of their planet or of their own kind, and they were also famous with the Zetakin race for their uncanny habit of taking the ships that entered their atmospheres down and then confiscating both the living, non-living, and deceased items that were found on them; a fine example of how the humans were with the other races of the Universe was going on overseas, sadly.

Even though the human race was known to be this way, it was known that, on occasion, certain individuals did meet and then fall in love with the ones who decided to travel to the planet for either sight-seeing or vacation time—while there weren't many, there were reports out there on certain people from other realms meeting, falling in love, and then taking the human that they fell in love with from the planet so they could settle down on his/her homeworld and then start a new life together... the relationship either broke off due to issues caused mainly by the human or because the non-immortal human died. On average, a relationship with a human lasted somewhere between fourteen and twenty years—the ones who had their human spouse for all of their lifespan were said to be the lucky ones.

While she felt a tiny bit attracted to one of Lhaklar's friends, she wasn't about to become involved with him or have him start thinking that she was available and that he could have her. From what she read in one of the books that were written on how mortal/immortal relationships went, the mortal male party of the relationship was usually very pushy and controlling, and was also abusing—while a relationship would come to her one day, after she became an adult, then matured a bit, she wasn't about to let any male take advantage or hurt her physically, emotionally, or mentally. Her father had said that his grown children, if they so chose to do it, could live under his roof for as long as they wanted and he also said that, if they married, then decided to remain under his roof, they could; she was both hoping and planning on taking this option up.

On the eighth, when the two human teenagers that her brothers befriended came over for a visit, she was given a bit of teasing by her brothers on how "red" her cheeks were getting and on how much Seth didn't seem to want to be away from her. She took the teasing for all of ten minutes before leaving the room that they were in then going outside; Giovanni, who she and her father thought couldn't be that grandly educated, followed Guyunis to his room for some music listening and guitar playing while Seth stayed in the living room with Lhaklar for a while before leaving to go home. While things were slowly getting better for her in the house, and while she was slowly regaining her brothers' trust, she still worried that they were doing things that they shouldn't and that they were befriending a crowd that they shouldn't be hanging around.

"That... tattoo'd boy that came over today is no good, Angel. Think Eshal noticed this as well. He's not fit for any of the boys, Guyunis included." she remembered hearing her father telling her mother one day last week, after Giovanni's first visit to the house was done, and after Guyunis "paraded" him before them.

"Looked very well composed to me." her mother returned.

"Did you see how his arms were, Angel? None of the boys need that around them, or to have the idea of getting any of them put in their heads. If Guyunis continues to see that boy, he will, I'm sure, be pursued into getting something put on him that might cause irremovable damage."

"Guyunis has an interest in tattoos, Tazir. And I've spoken with him on the issue that you just mentioned. He knows how the process goes in getting them, and, if he decides to go on and get some, he's not allowed to get any until he becomes a man."

"Guyunis has a..." nothing more was said on the subject; her father shook his head then left the basement, while her mother continued to fold the laundry that was in the basket. She was only able to hear-in to the conversation by standing behind the half-open basement door.

Giovanni Sordi, as he was introduced as being on the third of August, was burly and strong-armed. She bet that he did more than work in one of Rastatt's convenience stores—with the way he looked, she bet that he drank, did drugs, and stole things from unsuspecting people. According to Guyunis, he had a license to drive a motorcycle but didn't own one; his cousin, who was raising him, owned one and let him drive it from home to work only. After seeing who Guyunis "befriended", she did her best to put as much distance between him and her as she could—with his looks, and them tat's on his arms, she feared that he'd grow mad then target the one closest to him. To her understanding, people who had tattoos were of the highly or short-tempered sort, and they usually did drugs and gang-related stuff. It was a shame that Guyunis was befriending people who had tats because he seemed to be a good and well-behaved boy; with his looks, Giovanni looked to be his exact opposite.

"Pardon if I offend but, what race are you and your fader?" the only woman in the room asked her.

"M-my daddy's half-Zetakin and half-Vilian. I'm fifty-percent Zetakin, a quarter Vilian, and a quarter Vendari." Eshal replied with little trouble at all. She figured that the claim on what she was was important and that she shouldn't keep it to herself.

"You have a very pretty set of eyes," the woman said. "And your hair's nice too."

"Thank you."

"Name's Rosalinde Leinart," the woman started introducing herself, and her family. "This is my husband, Stefan, and my children, Annelise, Thede, and Rainmund."

"Nice to meet y—"

"Mr. Leinart, it's nice to see you today." Lhaklar, her brother who she currently saw as her "saving grace", said after coming around the corner.

A near-repeat of what happened with her brothers and Mr. Ballal happened after the word was rang on The Leinart's being downstairs. Lhaklar spoke with the head of the family; topics on how he and his were these past few months, on how work was for him, and if school was out and, if not, how it was going for the younger members of the family were discussed before he went upstairs for his model cars. Bile did as he did with Mr. Ballal, as did Hazaar and Lazeer; after her adopted and half-brothers showed what they wanted to show off, they went upstairs to return their things to their rooms. Guyunis came down right after they went up with their things; naturally, he had his guitar with him. Mr. Leinart spoke for a while on the guitar, and checked it over, before handing it back then turning his attention towards her. The cloud of a question was just forming on his lips when her parents rounded the corner. After Guyunis left with his guitar, and their guests sat down, Adult Hour started.

"Been a while, for the both of you." Stefan said after the room's air was calm and everyone was seated.

"Nice to see you after so long." Angel returned.

"Same," TazirVile said, after receiving his wife's elbow in his ribs.

"Was speaking with your daughter earlier. Seems to be settling down."

"Yes, and appropriately too. Glad to see that things between her and the boys are progressing slowly instead of quickly."

"She have anything against speaking or spending any time with the older of my three kids?"

"Don't see why not," TazirVile said after turning to take in the older of the three kids that Stefan gestured at. "How old is she?"

"Seventeen."

"Most definitely. Eshal, won't don't you and—" TazirVile glanced at the girl who was currently standing from the sectional couch.

"Annelise," Annelise said.

"Why don't you and Annelise go upstairs for a bit. Let me, your mother, and our guests have some time to talk among ourselves."

"Okay."

For Annelise, Eshal was both stiff and slow in doing as she was told. She gave her fader a long look before getting up from where she was seated; once she was up, she led her from the room then to the stairs. Once they were on the house's second level, she led her to the room that was to the left of the upstairs bathroom.

Before leaving the house that she and her family lived in, she and her siblings were told to take certain things with them that'd keep them "entertained" both during the trip and after they reached their destination. Thede and Rainmund were fast in emptying their backpacks after hearing this; while the both of them filled their bags with some of their coloring books, and crayons, and a few of their favorite discs of music, Rainmund had one of his handheld game systems, and some of its games, in his. After hearing her fader's order, she went to her room for the big purse that she was given on her birthday; she filled it with some of her favorite music, a few books, a camera, and her tablet before dropping the flap then going downstairs. All while going down the stairs, she wondered what was going on—school was still going on, and they weren't slated to move to their summer home, which was in St. Peter-Ording, a beach that was in the district of Nordfriesland, that was in Schleswig-Holstein, yet. It looked like she was just given the answer to that question.

Instead of having them running around, creating mishief and driving everyone up a wall with their bored antics, her fader wanted Thede and Rainmund to be preoccupied while he, her mum, and the other man in the house spoke to Miss. Irene and her husband. It was obvious that she was to spend some time with Miss. Irene's daughter; while she was glad to have the chance to do this, she was a little nervous about what was to happen.

Did Eshal like what she listened to? If she took her music from her bag, then gave the suggestion that they listen to it while their parents were downstairs, would she say okay or no? If she took her tablet out, then showed it to the girl, would she break or not be interested in doing anything with it? Eshal, while dressed to look like a teenager, looked to be exactly what her mutter had said she was—shy. She was just starting to wonder if she was going to do nothing but sit and then stare at the wall after taking her up to the room that she was staying in when her eyes lighted on the two pillows that were on the room's single-sized bed.

"No way! You have two of them Mermaid pillows?" Annelise said after seeing what she did.

"Yeah. Bile found them for me." Eshal replied.

"Where?"

"The dump."

"People throw out the silliest of things—glad he found and then gave them to you."

"Me too."

Except for a few things, the room was very purple and blue in color. The bed set, while purple, had black, Tiger-like stripes on it; the Mermaid pillows looked a little odd when compared to the two rectangular and throw pillows that were either underneath or to the sides of them. With the exception of the Mermaid pillows, the pillows were in cases, which matched the bed set perfectly.

The mauve bedside table, that was to the left of the bed, looked like one of them vintage trunks stood on-end. It had a baby blue "fur" on it—she had never seen fur of this color before, which made her believe that it was either fake or dyed that color. The stained glass lamp, that was on the "fur", was vase-like in design; it had a flared top that was styled to look like flower petals and leaves. Along with being stained in many red, pink, and purple hues, the glass had a lot of flower-like designs on it. The lamp's bronze-like, ornate curling leaf base was unique and went well with the piece. The clock, that was before the lamp, was a glow-like purple color; the time was large and very clear, as was the date, which was displayed above it.

The purple/blue trunk, that was pushed up against the end of the bed, had a lock and clasp on it. Its top was "littered" with a set of pink, purple, light blue, and light green petite rose decor pillows. When she turned her attention towards the room's closet, which was open, she saw that there were two, cube-sized, blue-lace trunks in it—she imagined makeup, or hats or shoes, as being their occupants. The closet's rod was full of many dresses, coats, and other things that one of the female gender would wear, while the shelf, that was above it, was empty. While there were no posters in the room, there was this bizarre-looking tv—along with being across from the bed, it had this pulsating border that was either mauve or blue in color.

The dresser, while being made out of wood, was a stained, dark blue color. It had two, round mirrors on it that looked very convincingly silver. The armoire matched the dresser in color; it was to the right of the dresser. A sort of Papasan chair was to the left of the window; the wood-part of the chair was a dark blue color while the cushion was both leopard in design and medium blue, baby blue, and black.

That was it on the items that were purple or blue. While she could understand why the carpet was dark red, and why the walls were a reddish-cream color—for all she knew, they might be original pieces to the room—she couldn't understand the reason in Eshal having two bookcases... or why they were colored the way they were.

Both were a pinkish-silver color, and were tall. Their shelves looked appropriate for the display of only one or two things. The one, that was in the room's top right corner, had a menagerie of things on it—she saw a lot of enameled horse boxes, and a lamp that had flowers and butterflies on it; while she looked at the many books and magazines, that were on the next shelf down, her attention was automatically drawn to the very colorful bird that was on the final shelf. During class one day, two years ago, a lesson was done on the Bird-of-paradise... There was said to be around thirty or so species of these very colorful birds on the planet and all were unique in one way or another; it really did look like Eshal had one of them birds on that bookcase. The other bookcase, which was in the opposite corner, had another lamp on it that had very bright, optic blue fibers on it; there were many CDs on one of the lower shelves while, on the shelf that was under it, there was this cute as could be Gray Alien-like doll.

"Has to be her diary..." she thought after Eshal broke her neck to hide the book that was on the shelf that the doll was on. This book, while having a very glittery, dark pink cover, had a dark blue spine; the pen, that was embedded in the spine, had a blue feather on one of its ends. She let Eshal put the book in one of the dresser drawers before speaking to her again. "That doll's right cute."

"It is, isn't it?" Eshal replied a second or two later. "My grandmother gave it to me on my one thousand, five hundredth birthday."

"Is it made out of porcelian?"

"No. Made out of this material that has a skin-like feel to it."

"Really? Cool!" without putting much thought into it, she went to the bed then sat down; some of the items that were in her purse were removed afterwards.

The stay, for him and his family, spanned for nearly two hours. Ajeet's ended about twenty minutes before they left for home; Miss. Irene's husband, while placid with everyone, looked to be glad when he left. Annelise and Eshal seemed to get along well. According to his daughter, they either spoke among themselves or listened to one or the other's music; Annelise claimed that "Mr. Irene's" daughter was very reluctant to do anything other than that with her. Except for the moment where he had to reprimand Rainmund for his asking "Mr. Irene" if he swallowed ocean water to be the color that he was, his two, younger children were well-behaved; they mostly kept themselves busy with their coloring books or music. Rainmund broke out his game system about twenty-five minutes before the signal was given that they were close to over-staying their welcome.

Guyunis was called down before they left. With his being as close to the family as he was, he went and got him two things for his birthday, which he sadly missed due to issues at work. The Land of Giants diorama, that depicted the people who were battling the giant snake, was happily received, as was the kit of the Mummy "bursting" from its coffin. After the two items were given to Guyunis, he and his left then started on their way home; with all the topics that were discussed during their visit, his wife had a good idea of what was to happen in November—Mr. Surfeit, while a trifle vague in what he said, had said that he was looking forward to when the month came and to when he had his family back to where they were suppose to be. Ajeet, while not saying anything during the bits on Mr. Surfeit taking his family from the planet were said, had shown the signs of both worry and sadness when that part of the conversation was done; he could tell that he was going to feel the same as he when the day came for the man to finally do as he had planned to do.

From what he could tell, Mr. Surfeit, or, as his kids called him, "Mr. Irene", was still issuing out them little challenges to his wife. Miss. Irene was doing her best to keep him down, and to keep life for her and her children going forward. Eshal's reluctance to do anything with anyone who both lived around her and her family and were in her age-range was a little concerning—going by how her parents reacted to the questions pertaining to her, he knew that they were keeping at her in her both leaving the house and mingling among the people who lived around them. The boys were doing as they usually did, and Guyunis made his first human-friend recently. While he was proud of Guyunis for becoming a friend to someone, he was saddened by the fact that it'd not be a very long one. With November being just four months away, neither he nor Ajeet had much time left in keeping their friendship with the Irene's going and the same went with the friendships that their friend's sons had gained for themselves.

"Go slow, please. Let the next ninety-nine days go slow, so we can figure out how to contain our feelings for when it does come around, and so we can, maybe, figure out a way to keep in contact with one another." he thought while driving away from Elchesheim-Illingen.


	22. Chapter 22

He didn't much like the company that came over yesterday, or what he saw after it was let in. While Angel spoke on the ninth about someone coming over, she didn't disclose who it was or how many it was that was coming over; she pretty much left him and Eshal in the cold on who their visitors were.

Due to his having a history with the green, eco-friendly Mercedes SL2X Pagoda, that pulled in the drive, he had an idea on who their first visitor was. Once Mr. Ajeet Mahatma Ballal was seen as leaving his vehicle, then coming up the walk, he went to get his wife's attention. It was Angel who let the man in, and who led him to the living room and then told him to make himself comfortable. Once the man was in that room, everyone came down to make him feel welcome. A bit too welcome, if one had asked him. He and his daughter had witnessed the whole range of the boys' embarrassing antics with the man; along with being frustrated, and a little angered, over what they were doing, he was surprised over how they weren't letting him, or Angel, speak with or hurry the man's visit. In his mind, the boys had shown that they had no true regard to how one went by having company over—while they acted their age when their friends came over, they still presented themselves well... with the company that came over yesterday, they didn't do that. They jumped. They hogged. They jowled a bit too much. They probably also made the visiting parties to the abode feel embarrassed as well—seeing that Mr. Ballal, and the Leinart family, didn't leave in a hurry after they started on them was of equal surprise to him.

After voicing his displeasure in the boys' antics, then refusing to leave his wife's side, or let her speak with the "guest" on her own, he found himself as being asked to go to the kitchen—he only went there after seeing that Angel was headed to that part of the house too. Angel surprised him by saying that the boys were just acting friendly, and that they wouldn't do what they were with anyone that they didn't know or weren't close to, and that he needed to calm down and let her and Mr. Ballal speak alone instead of acting as a sort of chaperone to them. While he and Angel were talking, Eshal was leading the Leinart family into the house; while he wasn't available to see the boys' antics with them, Eshal was. According to her, they did the same thing with the head of the family—while including the other members of the family in on their conversations, and showing them the things that they brought down from their rooms, they mostly concerned themselves with Mr. Leinart.

In a way, in was the Leinart's that made him decide to stay in the room and see the visitation out. Mr. Leinart, who should of been concerning himself with the affairs of his country instead of taking lengthy trips to see people who lived a distance from him, had asked him a few questions on himself, and on what he knew of the other realms that were outside of the one that they were in, while Mrs. Leinart seemed to be more focused on his involvement in the removal of one of his wife's unborn children. In his mind, Thede and Rainmund Leinart should of been getting ready for bed or supper—their parents were showing good skills in taking them on an hours-long ride on a school-night, and on keeping them up later than they should. According to the species handbook, that charted some of the practices that the humans did, a human child started their schooling at the age of two or three then continued on until graduating at seventeen or eighteen. For some, the age of schooling continued after the regular graduation occurred—on average, some humans were in their mid to late-twenties by the time they finished school.

With this being known to him, the older of the three Leinart children should of also been either sitting down to supper or getting ready for bed at the time of her family's visit.

Ajeet Mahatma Ballal appeared in the driveway at eight in the evening, while the Leinart family appeared about twenty to twenty-five minutes later. In his figuring, Mr. Ballal should of also stayed in Berlin—with his having a wife and two young children, he should of been looking after them instead of worrying himself about the six-plus hour drive to see his wife and sons. With his having as good of a job as he did, he should of also been getting ready for bed.

"May I ask why you did it?" the woman, who introduced herself as Rosalinde, asked after half of the conversation between her and her husband, Mr. Ballal, and he and his wife occurred.

"Did what?"

"Aid in the removal of one of your wife's unborn babies."

It was very obvious that Angel spoke on certain things that happened before they were an item. While he disclosed that they weren't married at the time of the event's occurrence, he also said that he knew something was amiss between them after his nephew gave him a photograph of her. The photograph that he mentioned to the woman was never returned to his nephew; due to the feeling that swept over him, he wasn't able to go through with the act of giving it back to the one who he got it from. Along with still having it to that day, he carried it in his wallet—where it was now.

It was really Vile who was the main instigator of the removal of that baby. After seeing that she was pregnant, then recognising that it wasn't his, he declared that he wanted it removed. His brother used a device that allowed one to operate on another without anesthesia being applied while Vile held Angel's arms and he held Angel's legs. After disclosing this bit of information, he noted a sudden change in the woman. While she refused to speak to him after hearing what she did, she spoke to Angel... and in a rather calm, and sympathetic, voice too.

The baby that Angel was carrying back then was sired by a human by the name of Atlas of Sclera. The man not only claimed her as his, and added her to his harem, but he also forced himself upon her. From what he had heard, his wife conceived for him twice; she lost the first on her own while the second was removed from her. He did confirm for the woman that Angel wasn't able to reproduce with a human male, but he wasn't able to say anything further to her on this issue—if that baby was born alive, and was still alive, he wouldn't break Angel's bond to it, or deny her the honor of raising it. She still had Guyunis, did she not? With her still having her adopted son, who he knew nothing of until recently, the woman should of known that he wasn't out to get or prevent his wife from being the mother that she wanted to be.

Rosalinde Leinart, along with branding his brother and nephew as being a Baby Killer, had branded him as being one too. He didn't know how to react to that, because that wasn't him. Towards the end of the visitation, he spoke on the upcoming removal of his family from the planet then on some of the matters that'd orbit it. The two men, Ajeet, especially so, had looked both worried and sad over hearing what he said; while both emotions were normal in being felt, he had confidence that they'd be fine. They'd make other friends, and go on with their lives... in time, they might even forget about their friendship with his wife and sons. Humans weren't immortal, and they sometimes got to being so forgetful later on in life that they... well, forgot certain things that happened either in their lives or in the lives of their loved ones.

Really, the only good thing that came from the visit was his seeing how lit-up Guyunis became after receiving the two items from Mr. Leinart. Seeing how bright the boy became gave him an idea... which he was in the process of doing right now.

"Are you sure it'll last, and hold up to the item that'll be plugged into it?" he asked the man, who was putting the small, black box, that had a wide speaker and some buttons and dials on its front, on the counter.

"Yessir." the shop's owner, a peculiar man who had a headful of orange and green tentacles, large, red eyes, and a triangular-shaped mouth, replied. Seeing as it might be asked again, he repeated what he said to his customer earlier. "This is the standard unit for a beginner—just about everyone starts off with a fifteen watter. It should last for the instrument that you've described."

"He plays that B.C. almost daily, would this last against near-daily use?"

"For a while, yes. You might need to get a replacement for it after fifty to seventy-five years if the instrument that your son's using is hooked up and then played almost every day."

"Is there a warranty?"

"There is, yes." the man went to work on his computer; after typing the item's number in, then getting the information on it on his screen, he rang out a price. "The issue price is $99.99, while, with the warranty included, it's $125.75."

Considering the amount of cash that was thrown for the item in question that was played almost every day, he thought that the price for the box was cheap, but fair. After hearing the issue price, then the price with the warranty included, he dug his wallet out from the pocket that it was in; all while remembering the little talk that he and Lhaklar had last night, he removed the required funds from it then gave them to the man who owned the shop. With that matter done and over with, he slid his wallet back into its pocket then waited for the receipt to be made and then given to him.

While it took a while, he was able to get the price of the item that Guyunis was gifted on his birthday. The B.C. Rich was the very guitar that was in the pawnshop that was owned by his son's friend's father; Mr. Bonnaire, after the one who originally owned it wasn't able to come in to pay or reclaim it as his, hung it up then slapped the price-tag of €300 on it. While Mr. Bonnaire was "kind" enough to knock €100 off it, he wasn't the one who handled the transaction—that would be his son, Astor Bonnaire Jr. He was in his son's room when he decided to ask the question on the guitar; Lhaklar was just starting in on his... skeletalized French twist streamliner 1922 Gerin when the price of €200 was said. The claim of his saving some of his allowance each month, and of his taking €20 from his paycheck each week, was made when he asked how he was able to acquire the funds for it.

Before coming to Blerizax's Music Emporium, which was on Zeta Levushi, one of the planets that were in the Zeta Reticuli system, which was some light years from Earth and its galaxy, he took a trip to Mr. Bonnaire's shop then asked him if what his son had told him was true. Half of him had expected for the man to tell him something different, and that Lhaklar had spent more than what he told him on the instrument; he was quite surprised in hearing that Lhaklar's story was very accurate and that Mr. Bonnaire did, indeed, knock €100 off the guitar.

"It was a very legal transaction, sir. Your son showed all proper I.D.'s, and signed all available papers that needed to be signed, and he gave all funds over. No issues were encountered in my store." Astor Bonnaire Sr. said after he asked his questions, then gave him a blank, stupid look.

About twenty minutes after lunch came to a close, most of the boys decided to leave the house to do odd and end things. Eshal "hussled" Lazeer into taking her with him, so she was with him right now; Bile and Lhaklar had yet to start trusting her again, so they were fast, but polite, in saying no when she asked if she could go with one of them after learning that they were leaving the house. He wasn't very sure on what his two, older sons were doing... but he presumed that they were behaving themselves, and staying out of trouble. After Guyunis left the house to spend time with his "tattoo'd friend", he decided to go the pawnshop. Once business was done in Mr. Bonnaire's shop, he left it then gave his younger, half-brother a call; along with the usual, he asked him if he knew of any music stores that were in or around the planet that he and his family were living on—after telling him why he wanted to know this information, he learned that Blerizax's Music Emporium was probably the best music store in the Zeta Reticuli system to visit and purchase specific items from.

He had no more concluded his conversation with his brother before teleporting to the store then going in.

With his not knowing a thing on musical instruments—oh, he picked up the flute, and then the Rudra veena, a few times when he was a kid but he wasn't very good at playing them—, he asked around for one of the store's available salespersons before, finally, getting the store's owner's attention. Naturally, Mr. Nuryot showed him the more expensive amplifiers first before showing him the less expensive beginner amps that he asked to see; after seeing the one that he just paid for, he asked a slew of questions on it before nodding his head then saying that it was the one that he was looking for.

All while paying for the thing, he was thinking about how his parents loathed whenever he played the two instruments that he took up. Both they, and his sister, were glad when he decided that music-playing wasn't for him and, really, so was he. His fingers got in the way with them, and he didn't have the "gift" of knowing sound or symbols, so everything that he tried to play was pretty crappy. After the funds were given over for the box, he found himself thinking about how different things were going to be at his mansion after his family was returned to it—he shoved this thought to the far recesses of his brain right when Mr. Nuryot slid the receipt forward.

"If your son is serious on continuing with his play of his guitar, don't hesitate to come back—my store has the best variety of amps and other musical equipment available; he won't be disappointed with anything that's purchased from here." the man, who was of the Nyglot species, who lived in the next galaxy over, said after the receipt was removed from his possession.

"Thank you," he said while putting the receipt in his inside jacket pocket. After the receipt was safely put away, he grabbed his purchase then left the store; he teleported to the house that his family was staying at almost immediately after leaving the store.

Just about every store owner, or employee, said for their customers to come back, and that they had the "best" of a certain piece of merchandise available. Unless one of his other sons had or gained an interest in musical instruments, or Guyunis was really serious on learning how to play his guitar, and needed some equipment to either learn on, or get a better sound to their chosen instruments, he had no plans to buy anything else that one of the boys could make noise with. After appearing before the house, he wasted little time in going to the door or going in.

It was just his luck that one of the neighbors was both home and by one of their residence's windows when he was going inside.

"Glad to see that there's movement going on around the place." Kurt Klied said after letting the drape, that was before his family's kitchen window, drop.

Yes, but what was going on inside? While he and his family had seen the Irene boys going out to do activities that they had formerly abandoned in April and May, they hadn't seen much of the girl alien in June or July; this was a bit alarming. In April and May, the girl was seen as moving about or standing in the back or front yards; she was a very curious absence in them yards on the two following months... and it seemed that some of the boys were either agitated or angry whenever they left the house to do as they usually did during the day hours in them months. Miss. Irene's husband was still going out to collect the mail, so it was known on his still being in the house, and Miss. Irene was still going to work—they knew this because either he or his wife was home to see him collect the mail or one of their daughters decided to take a trip to U-Krop-It to both pick up small things and see the woman who was their planet's heroine. Petra claimed that Miss. Irene looked happy and healthy, and Sarah said that she saw Bile and Lhaklar on two of the days that she went to the store and that they, too, looked happy and healthy.

Petra and Sarah, due to not being available to be home on the days this month where it was warm or decent out, hadn't been able to see or take note of the girl alien making her rounds of the property's yards and neither he nor his wife had asked the neighbors if they had seen her or not. The last he saw the girl was on June 10; she was getting into one of the two cars that were owned by her family. The family did a lot of shopping on that day—when they came back, there was a moment of inactivity before each member of the household was seen as taking a group of bags into the house. The following month, Miss. Irene went to the store, and did the pantry shopping, on her own; except for the female alien, all in her house came out to take the groceries inside after she pulled in the drive.

The BMW was back to being used. He saw both Bile and Lhaklar use it a few times last month, and Guyunis took it out for a spin twice this month. Lazeer, just that morning, was spotted as being near the community center, and Hazaar was noticed as walking down a sidewalk with a boy who looked to be around seventeen years old. He and his wife had seen the alien man leave the house, and stay away for a good length of time, before returning to it numerous times; they presumed that he left the shield to do something with or on the galaxies that he claimed to have—this was the only explanation that they had for his leaving and being gone for so long. With everyone but that girl alien being seen and accounted for, he was starting to grow concerned over something going on in the house again.

"It's none of my business, but I think it's time for me to head over and speak, and see, Mr. Irene." Kurt thought while going towards the door of his and his family's abode.

The first thing that he saw, after leaving the house, was the garden in the flowerbeds. His wife, instead of using the flowerbeds for flowers, had decided to plant and then grow some produce in them; she said it cut a few euros off the monthly grocery list and, indeed, it did. The carrots, tomatoes, radishes, and cantaloupe, that were in them, were bigger and better tasting than what was sold in the local food marts too—over the years, the neighbors had all thrown their jokes on saying how "crazy" his wife was for not using the flowerbeds for flowers... while he thought it was a little weird for them to be used in the way that they were, he agreed with his wife on there being value and purpose behind what she was doing with them. After exiting the house, then turning to make sure the door was cracked for Natascha, who was running around the front yard with Sarah, he noticed the animals that were in the flowerbeds.

"Oh, how nice. They're back." he said of the Hedgehogs.

In the age where certain scientists were trying to crossbreed certain animals with hopes of bringing extinct or formerly lost animals back from the dead, someone was struck with the "idea" of trying to crossbreed the European hedgehog with the domesticated variety of hedgehog. In 2170, this idea was followed through with "intense" research, which paid off a bit too grandly for some and caused a major headache for others. Even though the European hedgehog and the Pygmy or Four-toed hedgehog were a separate species, the scientists were able to crossbreed them successfully then get their offspring to be fertile. For the next twenty years, they bred, studied, and "perfected" the new species until it was decided to sell them as an exotic pet—as a way to regain some of the money used in the study of the animals, he was sure.

The animals were sold as pets for the next two years before Germany, and a few other countries in Europe, banned them. Along with not being able to be sold in petstores, they weren't allowed to be kept as pets—some grumbled over this, while others breathed sighs of relief over knowing that the animals wouldn't escape their enclosures or be set free by their irresponsible owners. Despite the ban, a woman, who was said to live near the border of Spain, bought five of the animals from an undisclosed source then started breeding them for her own purposes. She bred her animals for all of three years before the law was notified of her having them—along with having an illegal animal in her possession, she wasn't taking very good care of them and had way too many on her property.

On March 12, 2195, the woman, after noticing that the law was coming to confiscate her animals, and put her in jail for having them, set all of what she had loose. On estimate, she had around fifty or so hedgehogs on her property; the carcasses of all but twenty were found soon after the release, while the remaining animals both survived the area that they were released in and bred with the native population.

Over the years, the old native European hedgehog, that was known to reside in both Germany and some parts of Spain and France, was bred-out by this man-made creation. The animal that currently roamed German, Spain, and French soil was generally more colorful, and half the side of the varient that it bred out, but heavier that its domestic forebears. It became a nuisance rather quickly for its habit of destroying crops by digging them up for the insects that lie under them, and by eradicating the insects that keep them healthy, and by eating the eggs of birds that nest on the ground, and by eating the eggs of certain, endangered reptiles. They were also known for eating certain, endangered reptiles and amphibians.

After seeing the five hedgehogs that were in the flowerbeds, he turned to look at Natascha. The family dog, while being a very good pet to him and his family, was notoriously famous for chasing the varmints that came in to prowl and then try to destroy Mitzi's garden; once them five animals were seen, he gave out the call for the dog to come dispose of them.

"Oh Naaaataaascha..." he called to the dog, who stopped what she was doing then turned to give him a curious look. "Get 'em... Get 'em, girl"

He pointed at the flowerbeds; the dog, after bounding over, then seeing what it was that he was pointing at, yipped loudly then charged in their direction. The five animals, that were in his wife's garden, scampered away at once. While none were hurt, he hoped that they wouldn't return. After the hedgehogs were chased away, and Natascha was rewarded for her service, he resumed his trek to his neighbor's house.

"You sure that this is where you found the adults?" Eshal asked her brother right when Kurt Klied was reaching the yard that belonged to the house that her and her family were living in.

"In or about," Lazeer replied while placing the container, that most of his baby Emperor Newts were in, on the ground near the river.

"You mean, you don't know, right?"

"It was around this area"

After piddle farting around in town that morning, then coming home to eat lunch, he decided to go on and release the animals that he didn't need. After spending around fifteen minutes of checking each animal over, then picking the ones that he wanted to keep, he put the ones that he didn't want in the small container that he purchased for just this reason then started to leave the house. He had no more reached the hallway that the front door was on before hearing his sister coming for him—initially, he thought that she was going to get on him for going out but, to his surprise, she just hounded him on his letting her come with him. After two to three minutes of hearing her ring out promise after promise, and begging him to let her come along, he relented to her coming with him.

After telling her where they were going, they teleported then started walking along until finding the river that he wanted to find. The Dulongjiang river, which was located in Yunnan, China, was a bit wild where he was, but he had managed to find a section of it that wasn't but so wild; after setting his container down, then taking its top off, he tilted it until it rested on its side. All of the baby newts, that were born in July, and were newly metamorphosed into miniature versions of their parents, were set free. He watched them go off into the wild for only a second before righting the container, then sending it home via a spell, then grabbing the container that hung at his waist.

His newts were given a potion recently to prevent them from having anymore babies; while it took a little while to take effect, he hadn't seen anymore eggs being laid in the cage that they were in. Seeing as he was here, and had two containers that weren't being used, he decided to check around for something that may be interesting to put in them. Eshal only knew of his being here to release the bulk of his Emperor Newt babies—knowing her, she'd probably throw a fit if she knew of his also being here to look for more pets.

In his mind, he was doing fine with the ones that he had, and could afford one more pet to what he had; it should be okay for him to find and then bring two more amphibians home.

If nothing was found, he'd just call it a day. He'd tell his parents, and brothers, that he did nothing but release his baby newts and then look around if he was asked what he did that day. Looking around in Yunnan, China wasn't a crime, and he had permission to be here—he saw no reason to not take advantage of his being here to do as he was.

"You going to release the babies of your other animals too?" his sister asked him after he started moving away from her.

"No. There's only five of them, and they've got a different daddy so there'd be no inbreeding going on with them when the time comes for them to have babies of their own." Lazeer replied.

"But... what if they bred with their mother?"

"They won't."

"How do you know that?"

"Cause I won't let them."

"Oh. Okay."

While moving along, paying special attention to his surroundings, and to what may or may not be in them, he slid the pair of latex gloves, that he also brought with him, over his hands. His sister, unlike he, who was walking on either the bare ground or in the water of the riverbank, was stepping on a series of stones that looked to be purposely placed where they were. Unless a snake or something jumped at her, she was safe from anything that may or may not hurt at her—with her not being in contact with the water, and being above it by at least eighteen inches, and with the stones being as close as they were, nothing that could be in it could get at her and, with there being open ground on her left side, nothing would chance the risk of running to grab her either. Once the gloves were on his hands, he stepped into the water then started the process of flipping rocks or tree limbs. Unlike the last time, where he was looking for an animal that was over four inches in length, he was looking for anything that looked interested, or that got his attention.

"Oh cool!" he exclaimed after flipping a slab of rock then finding something underneath it.

While it wasn't alive, it wasn't decomposed either. After seeing the two-headed black salamander, that had two gold stripes on its back, he scooped it up then put it in the container. Just because he was here to look for potential pets didn't mean that he wasn't to look or walk past a deceased animal that had two heads on it—the four and a half inch amphibian could be preserved then put in his room.

Yunnan, except for in the middle-part of May, and the early-part of June, was experiencing an abnormal cool period. He wasn't but so surprised to see anything that was an amphibian being deceased, or deformed, for that matter. There were an array of factors at work for the region's amphibians to be dying or be born deformed—parasites; disruptions in the climate, which was causing the eggs to not develop properly; and polution. As of the last few months, a lot of pollutants were being put in the Dulongjiang river, which was causing more than enough problems for the area's wildlife. The government of Yunnan was trying to stop this from happening; so far, no one was listening to what they were saying, or were stopping what they were doing. Just last week, a trio of tigers were seen as looking either very poorly or dead about two miles apart; a few days ago, a group of hikers came upon a lake that had nothing but frogs and fish floating on it; and, on the twenty-secondth of last month, a group of children, who were on a field trip in a park, saw a few baby birds that's legs were fused together. Things didn't look good and the government was trying its best to either stop or slow it down. With Yunnan being on the forefront for tiger habitat, and having the largest concentration of tigers in it, the government was more focused on the tigers than on the other wildlife—but that didn't mean that they weren't concerned for the other animals that lived here.

"Life goes on, as always." he thought after flipping two tree limbs then finding a couple of frogs, who were busy in having sex, under them.

"Lazeer?" Eshal asked after seeing that he wasn't moving from where he was. "What is it?"

"Nothin'. Just watching frog porn." Lazeer replied.

"Ew!" he could detect the notes of her wanting to say _I'm telling daddy_ from her clearly.

He went on his way; flipping rocks, and tree limbs, and grossing his sister out whenever she asked if he was okay or what he was doing. At around the ten minute mark, he found something else that he wanted to take home and get preserved—while it looked like a bullfrog, it was yellow and had these odd, ball-like things hanging from the sides of its head that were a bright blue color. He put this odd creature in the container that he had then said the spell to make both it and the salamander freeze so they wouldn't stink or decompose any before he got home.

Another spell was done a few minutes later. Unlike the last one, this one made an empty duplicate of the container that he had. After seeing the two animals that he just uncovered from under a half-bark, he couldn't resist the temptation of taking them home.

"What is that!" Eshal exclaimed after jumping from where she was then going over to where her brother was kneeling.

"Good question, but one that I'll be sure to answer once I get home then take a trip to the library." Lazeer replied while putting the brownish-gold newt, that had a set of very prominent ribs sticking out from the sides of its back, into the container. He was quick in picking its mate, which was a little darker than it, and had a red stripe going down the underside of its tail, and red toes and ribbing on its back, up. Once the animals were in the container, he closed it then stood up.

With his signal, they went home. Instead of going their separate ways after entering the house, his sister followed him up the stairs then into his room; she watched as he got his new pets squared away.

While this wasn't the first time that she was in his room, it was the first time that she took it, and the items that were in it, in. She found herself as being both ashamed of herself for her prior transgressions towards her brothers and amazed with what she saw.

Except for the ceiling's models, Lazeer's room was well-maintained. There were no smells to complain about, or to make her come close to gagging or sneezing. She saw no piles of dirty laundry, or spoiled food items, or glasses lying about. There were a few things out of order on the corner desk, and there was a pile of unorganized magazines on the bed, but everything else was straight and, better yet, dust and dirt-free. She couldn't help but be proud of her youngest brother; it looked like her assumption of him being spoiled was wrong—this room didn't look to be mother-cleaned, and it didn't look to be thrown together in a hurry, or cleaned only when its owner was given the prompts to do so. It looked like he was looking after it.

While watching him put the dirt in the container, then getting it decorated for the two animals that were about to live in it, she thought about how his chamber on Moas was probably going to be arranged—her father, and one of his staff, were the ones to fix it up; while her mother and brothers were settling down, and getting use to being in the house again, they were busy in getting that room, and the ones that her other brothers had, ready for occupation. Back then, Lazeer wasn't able to fix it to how he wanted it to look like; maybe, after the move was done, he'd get that chance. Her father might let him hang some of his models on his room's ceiling, or on the ceiling of the room that was being attached to it; with the way this room looked, her father might not have to worry about how clean or organized it'd be after the move was made.

After looking at the room's many items, and already-present animals, then returning her attention to what her brother was doing, she found herself as being proud of him all over again. What he was doing was something else to be proud of—here was the baby of her family, taking good care of his pets, and making sure that the new ones that he picked up were also cared for; it didn't look like he depended on their mother, or one of their brothers, to look after his pets... it looked like he took care of them, and their needs, himself.

Initially, she was against his taking up the animals that he found, and his bringing them home. After seeing the state of his room, she was no longer against his having anything that was a living organism. While she was a little confused over his wanting to keep the deceased animals, she was happy to see that he was both keeping and looking after the animals that he found.

"Going to name them?" she asked after the container was done in being prepared for the two amphibians, and after they were put in it.

"No. None of my pets have names." Lazeer replied after going to make space on his dresser for his new pets.

"How come?"

"Some are too similar to one another, and I don't really want to name the rest."

Except for his having to answer the door after someone knocked on it, nothing really eventful happened in the house between his, his youngest son, and his daughter's homecoming. Mr. Klied came in for a few minutes to just talk and see how things were going for him and his before leaving to go home. In a way, he was glad that the man came over to speak and see how things were going—Mr. Klied, he was sure, would pass all of what he said around, which would get everyone's minds off what may or may not be happening under the roof of his wife's house. While he left certain bits on how life under the house's roof was like these past few months, he did mention that an issue occurred between his daughter and the boys and that it was both noticed and taken care of; Mr. Klied looked to be relieved over hearing this—this was mutual for him, since he was also relieved in all the fuss between his children being over.

The next few hours went by slowly. Eshal and Lazeer seemed to be getting along; except for the one issue that he needed to come in about, they had no fights or arguments between themselves. Eshal stayed in Lazeer's room, looking at his stuff and learning a bit about him, for about ten minutes before leaving to spend some time in her room. After an hour passed, she returned to her brother's room then "haggled" him into having her be his partner in one of the games that were compatible with the Super Dendy game system. It was during their time in playing one of the consoles games that he found himself as having to come in to stop a small fight—Lazeer "cheated" his way before her in one of the system's racing games and Eshal was quite vocal on it.

Bile came in at around two-thirty. Naturally, he reeked of marijuana; a shower took care of the smell, while a quick talk on why he didn't want his son to be smoking that junk got nowhere and fast. He let the matter drop after seeing that his words weren't getting through—his son would be quitting the stuff here in the next few months, he told himself after letting the boy go on to another part of the house. Lhaklar came home about fifteen minutes later; he had two bags on him that contained a thing of new paintbrushes, two jars of blue and red model paint, a jar of paint thinner, and two wooden display stands. His son, when the subject of the display stands came up, said that they were for something that he was planning on displaying in his room—nothing on this thing was said; his son just said that then went to his room. Angel came home next; along with meeting her at the door, he kissed her then led her to the kitchen, where she had a snack, and a conversation with Eshal and Bile.

Hazaar surprised everyone when he came in. His secondborn son went to one of the nearby dumps; along with finding a bunch of items that he was planning on giving to his mother and brothers, he found a few things for him and his sister. The enameled trinket box of an octopus, Buhduwg—or Bulldog, as the humans called the breed—, kitten, mother bear with her cub, tiger, Dachsoon—or Dachshund to the humans—, rabbit, and Giraffe with her calf were in good shape and, he was sure, would be greatly appreciated. Eshal gained the interest in trinket boxes at a very young age; she was still interested and had a better than fine collection of them. At times, he found himself as throwing $150 on three to four of them boxes a month. He was both glad to see that his son was looking out for his sister during his time in scrounging for things in the dump and quick in giving him, and his brothers, the word on their sister's little interest.

The boys said that they'd keep an eye out for their sister's interest after he called them down to tell them about it. After saying this, they went up to resume what what they were doing before being called downstairs. It was quiet in the house for all of two hours after they went up to their rooms. When Guyunis came in, he was both alone and had a flier on him about a concert that he was interested in attending. While he was shocked over hearing that he received permission to go to it, he left him alone when he went to talk to Angel. After the conversation on his going to the concert was over, he stood then approached him; he told him that there was something waiting just inside his room for him then waited for some sort of reply or reaction to happen.

While no reply came, a reaction did. The boy gave him one hell of a long look before turning then "racing" upstairs. It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that he came down. Naturally, he had his cat with him; he was fast in asking about what he found.

"I got it for you." he said after the question on the amplifier was asked. "Seem to be right interested in that guitar of yours, and seem to need something to get the actual sound from it. Saw no reason to not get you it."

"Dude... what... Why'd you do tha-k-t?" Guyunis seemed to be having a time in getting a sentence out, which was a trifle bit hilarious on his end.

"Thought you'd need and want it. Consider it as being a late-birthday present."

"... Thanks!" Guyunis said no more. He turned then ran upstairs; it didn't surprise him or anyone else in the house when the actual electronic sound of the guitar was heard a few minutes later.


	23. Chapter 23

The concert, that he received permission to attend, didn't happen. A bunch of tornadoes, and tornado-like winds, was the underlying cause for it to be canceled while the rest lie in the freak fire that broke out in the venue that it was to take place in. He and his friend were blue over not being able to go to it... er, for two days, that was. Giovanni, who had a knack for finding concerts to go to, and who went to many of them over the last four years, found another that they could go to. He wasn't able to resist the temptation to go to the newly discovered concert after the flier was shown to him, and after his friend said that he was going to it come hell or high water.

His mutter was very open to his going to the concert, and to Bile and Hazaar going with him. The man who was her husband, and who gave him the amplifier a week and a day ago, looked to be shocked over him and his bruders receiving permission to go to it; along with questioning him on the concert, he added his two-cents to how he and his bruders were to "behave" while being at the venue. If not for his mutter, he would of told the man to buzz off—he annoyed, and embarrassed, him, and he didn't like it. The man and he, while talking, and being "pleasant" around one another, weren't on common ground just yet—he still thought that he was one to watch out for, and that he couldn't be trusted as far as one could spit, and that he was a sort of Jekyll and Hyde. Since August 11, the man went from being halfway decent to a little hard and controlling; he had a span of being a little quiet on the fourteenth and seventeenth before being quite talkative and wanting to do "gossip" with him. While he seemed to be dividing his time between his mutter and bruders, he also seemed to want to be around or flap jowls with him more than with them.

The concert, that he and his bruders were planning to attend, was being held in Lampertheim, which was a town that was located in the state of Hesse. Hazaar, being the whiz that he was with a map, was the one to chart their course to the state and to estimate how long they'd be on the road. After hearing that it was an hour and twenty-two minute drive, then seeing the route that he was to take, he grabbed what he wanted to bring with him then waited for his bruders to do the same. Once everyone was set and ready to go, they left the house then went to the BMW. Thanks to his mutter, who taught him well on how to drive a car a few months ago, he felt very confident in being behind the wheel, and in taking them to the state and town that the concert was being held in.

After getting in the car, then strapping the belts around themselves, he started them on their way. They only stopped once and that was to pick up Giovanni; once his friend was in the back right passenger seat, he resumed the trip.

"Should we lis-k-ten to the radio while we're on the road or no?" he asked about ten minutes after Giovanni was picked up.

"As long as its none of that chick-crap, sure." Giovanni said.

"Same here," Bile agreed.

"Ditto," Hazaar nodded his head.

While keeping one hand on the wheel, he reached down to twist the knob on the radio. After turning the radio on, then turning the knob a few times, he received the signal to stop looking for a channel—when the index fingers of his passengers were seen, he nodded his head then returned his hand to the wheel. Techno-bob was what was playing; it was just one of three music genres that were played and either listened to or purchased by the planet's population. While he wasn't all that grand a fan of it, he preferred it over the other two genres—one being of the normal or very slow variety, that seemed to make Lazeer cry or tear up whenever it was played, or he heard it, and the other being the too up-beat variety that was both way too fast and caused one to be confused while listening to it. While he preferred the techno-bob music to the other genres, he still liked anything that was in the old school rock 'n roll, metal, and grunge genres better.

As far as he could tell, Giovanni felt the same way—while talking with him one day, he learned that he listened to Techno-bob on occasion. Unless there was nothing else on the radio worth listening to, Giovanni preferred to listen to Techno-bob over anything else. On the day that he and his friend met, he learned about fifteen percent of him while on the way to The Pit; the following twenty-five percent was learned after they reached the gym/bar that was his friend's favorite hang-out spot.

Giovanni's first tattoo was gained when he was thirteen. The one that was raising him had raised more than a little Cain after it was noticed on him, and after it grew infectious two days after it was applied to him. While the anchor tattoo was still present on his friend's wrist to that day, it was nearly overshadowed by the many others that were both around and above it. His friend pretty much started the trend of getting a tattoo once every two to four months after he hit the age of fifteen—he said that he wanted the billowing smoke tattoo, that was on the bicep of his left arm, to connect to the same tattoo that was on his other arm, and to have a couple of burning feather and locket tattoos on his chest and back, and to have one of his eyebrows pierced, before he hit the age of twenty-five; with the way his arms were inked, it looked like he was well on his way to having half of that achieved before that age set in.

When the question of Erik Sprague was brought up when they were in The Pit, he learned that he was Giovanni's idol and that he had a poster of him in his room. Mr. Sprague, who was born on June 12, 1972, and died sometime after the back-to-back plagues struck in the early twenty-first century, was better known as The Lizardman; he was a freak and sideshow performer who was known best for his body modification, including his sharpened teeth, full-body tattoo of green scales, bifurcated tongue, subdermal implants, and green-inked lips. The man, while making himself look like a lizard, had never pursued the act of getting a tail implanted to him so he'd really look like a humanoid version of the animal that he was trying to depict.

When he asked his friend what puppet he liked best in that old classic, The Muppets, Giovanni came back by saying that Statler and Waldorf, the show's cantankerous and heckler-making puppets, were his favorites. In contrast to his friend, he preferred Animal, the wild and frenzied drummer of the fictional band, Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem. After hearing what his favorite in the show was, Giovanni punched him in the arm then offered to buy him a drink—which he gladly accepted. Their friendship was sparked while they were riding in Jarvis's truck's cab, while it was sealed after they left the place that Jarvis took them, and Ivonne and Lhaklar, to.

Giovanni, while shorter than most male humans, was strong. He liked to balance his work-out routines with usual items or actions that teenagers liked doing. Along with having a license to drive a motorcycle, and being allowed to drive his cousin's motorcycle when he needed to go to work, he had a fake license—which he regularly used to get into certain bars for a drink or two. If he wasn't drinking, or getting one of his tattoos worked on, or working out, he was "pulling time" in Rastatt's Cool Blast Convenience; on the days that he didn't do them things, he either went to a movie, or to some area to pitch small or medium-sized rocks, or found someone to play a rousing game of baseball or basketball with.

While Giovanni had no interest in cabins or log homes, he did like to smoke, swim, and hang out with the crowd that did sports or simply went around, looking all tough but were really just soft at heart and mind. Despite only having a tenth grade education, Giovanni had good street smarts.

"If I were you, I'd be careful of my brother—his interest in tattoos is so grand that he might try to steal what's on your arms and then put them on himself." Bile said to Giovanni after he came over on the third of August, then started asking if he was home and available to hang around.

Along with being surprised over seeing his friend coming over, then asking if he was both home and available to hang around for a while, he was surprised to hear that Bile knew him. Apparently, Bile and Giovanni smoked a joint or two while being in Rastatt; the story went that they were waiting for the line at one of the city's ice cream parlors to shorten so they could get themselves some ice cream. Bile was smoking his joint when Giovanni walked around the corner, with the simple intention of standing in the shadow of the overhanging roof of the building that his bruder was leaning against while smoking a cigarette. Giovanni was the one to suggest that they share his joint and Bile, seeing as he had tat's on his arms, and was cool, agreed to it. He was very aware of the fact that his mutter's husband didn't like Giovanni, and that his mutter was very for his being a friend of Giovanni's; his sister seemed to be putting a lot of distance between her and his friend whenever he came over, so she probably didn't like him either—he was okay with their not liking his friend because they really had no say on who he could hang around or be friends with. His mutter was the one who he took orders from, not them.

After his friend came over for the second time, he overheard his mutter's husband saying that Giovanni looked to be one who created or looked to create trouble and that he and his siblings should steer clear of his types—from what he could tell, Giovanni, while having a small temper and drinking issue, was fine. There was nothing with which to grow but so alarmed over, or to cause him to break off his friendship or distance himself from him. His mutter was fast in taking her husband to the side for a chat on who had right in making the decisions on who he befriended.

On the eighth of August, when Giovanni came over to spend another spell of a few hours with him, he learned that he was allergic to cats. After hearing this, he asked for Hazaar to take Sabine to another part of the house, so he and his friend could spend some time together before they went their separate ways—they "broke ears", as Giovanni liked to call it, on his music, then played some of his guitar, then played the game system that his mutter gave to him on his birthday before splitting. While his friend wasn't very good in playing a guitar, he was a sport with his many mistakes; he seemed to like hearing/seeing him play his instrument more than having the chance to play it himself. He gave him a lot of praise whenever he played his guitar, which he more than appreciated.

"So, how's things at home for you three?" Giovanni asked after they were thirty minutes in on their trip.

"A little on the surprising side—Numbskull and the old man seem to be talking to one another." Bile replied.

"Anything good going on in them conversations, or is it just the I'm-trying-to-get-under-your-skin type of talks that they're having?"

"Wouldn't say that dad's trying to get under his skin, but would say that he's trying to be a bit too chummy with him." Hazaar answered.

"Dad's trying to get him use to him." Bile said. "That and trying to get him to calm down around him, and get a little relationship going on between them."

"Be warned, the ones who suddenly come into ones lives aren't the best of people to get close with." Giovanni warned the three that were in the car with him. "A few months after moving in with Guido, I had to contend with his new boyfriend, who did his best to to get close to me, and was fast to turn me in for the damnedest of things."

"The man tried to ac-k-t like a fader-figure to me a few months a-k-go." Guyunis confided. "We no more me-k-t before he started doing-k that, and before he star-k-ted his crap with my family."

"Crap? What kind?" Giovanni asked.

While telling the history that they shared with the man who was their mutter's husband, he remembered all of what he was told on his friend's family and legal guardian. Giovanni's parents were right young when they had him; due to their not knowing how to raise a child, or care for one, they gave him to one of their grandparents. Giovanni was raised by his maternal grandparents for all of five years then, when they died, he was raised by his paternal grandfather; after Diogo Valente died, an attempt was made to have his parents take him back. His parents, who were long separated by then, refused to take on his responsibility so it was either Benita Zacchia, his father's sister, or Guido Tuzzolino, his father's sister's son, that could take him on. With Benita Zacchia having Stage 5 cancer, it was up to her son to take up his care—it took about four months for him to say yes, and to take him home. From what he was told, the two didn't hit it off right away. It took about two years before they got in real good with one another, and before Guido started acting like a sort of parent to the one that he took to raise.

Guido Tuzzolino, while having a history with drugs and alcohol, had no tattoos on his body. He also didn't like tattoes. After being arrested for the final time for being both intoxicated in public and having acid in his possession, he shaped up to become what Giovanni called a "religious freak". Despite being really into the Catholic religion, he was gay—at the moment, he was seeing someone named Gert Fröbe, who Giovanni called a fat slob who seemed to like being the one below instead of the one in charge.

In a way, he and his friend had a similar history to one another. He was born to a woman who didn't want him, and got rid of him after he was born, and he had a fader who didn't want him, and Giovanni's parents also got rid of him after he was born—from what his friend told him, his parents still didn't want him, or anything to do with him. While Giovanni's guardian was a little closer in his lineage to him, he was also being raised by one who was in his family tree—his dat, ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit, was his mutter's great-great grandfader; while being his mutter's son, he was also a sort of "uncle" to her.

After hearing his friend's history, he told him about his. Giovanni knew that he was adopted, and that his former family were the Meyer's, and that he was abused by several generations in each of the families that took him on. Giovanni also knew that his mutter was the only one to give him care and love. Last night, before he went to bed, the phone rang; his friend, along with being on the other end, called him his "twin"... which was a little flattering, seeing as how their histories were so similar to one another.

"How old were you when Guido took you on?" Guyunis asked his friend after the word was given on what happened between his family and the man who was his mother's husband.

"Just barely nine." Giovanni replied.

There was silence in the car for nearly five minutes before someone cleared their throat then spoke.

"Who's playing at the concert again?" Hazaar asked.

"Airbourne is one of the bands," Guyunis replied. "ACDC comes on ne-k-xt then—"

"Five Finger Death Punch and another of the rock Gods." Bile finished for his brother.

"And that is?" Hazaar asked.

"Should we keep him in the dark until we get there, then get to feeling our ears bursting from the tunes that we'll be hearing?" Giovanni asked after the question wasn't unanswered.

"Tempted. Very tempted to do so." Bile said.

Their mutter surprised both him and Bile with four of Airbourne's eight CDs a few months ago; while they tried to be fair with them, it was mutally decided a few weeks ago that they'd need to buy separate CDs for their personal collections. He and his bruder were such fans of Airbourne that to not go to the concert, after hearing that the band was expected to be at it, would be like a crime. While he was really excited to see Airbourne and Five Finger Death Punch, Bile was especially excited to see ACDC and Aerosmith. Hazaar was probably going to do as he did at the concert that they and Lhaklar went to a couple of months ago—the sometimes conceited little freak was crazy on that night... he seemed to be more interested in flirting, and getting slapped by the ones that he tried to pull a move on, than in listening to the music.

While he and his bruders were all close to one another, they had different music tastes that, sometimes, drove each other up a wall and back. Bile and he had similar tastes in music. His oldest bruder liked anything that was loud and noisy; he also liked the old school rock 'n roll bands that were around in the 1970's to around the early twenty-first century. Lhaklar seemed to have a taste for the old classics and R&B, while Hazaar liked rap. Lazeer, while also liking other music genres, was particularly fond of reggae. From what he was able to detect during the days where Eshal was listening to the music that she owned, she seemed to like the same type of music that Lhaklar liked. The old goat that was his mutter's husband looked to have an interest in nothing but instrumental classical—his mutter seemed to like some of what Bile, Lhaklar, and he liked to listen to so it was kind of strange for her to be "married" to a man who liked nothing but instrumental music.

Along with being told by their mutter's husband to be on their best behavior, and home right after the concert was over, and to not drink, smoke, or do drugs while being at the venue, they received some instruction from their mutter on what they were to do while away from home. A reinforcement on their not drinking, or doing drugs, was made, and they were also told to be good while being in the venue. Their mutter said that, while they could smoke, they could only do but so much; she also said for them to not be but so shy in getting a souvenir or two while being at the venue— _them ticket stubs are good souvenirs, but there's other things to get that'll remind you of your time too_ , was what his mutter said when she said this. While they were told to be home after the concert ended, their mutter also said that she'd understand if they wanted to stay to see it out— _I'm sure that there'll be encores, which will keep your feet planted to the floor, so don't worry if its them that keep you at the venue longer than what the flier says the concert ends at_ , was what she said.

He and his bruders had €60 on them. Twenty was to be used on their tickets while the rest was to be used on beverages—like Bile said after they got into the car, what their mutter didn't know wouldn't hurt her, and they knew the spell to make any and all alcoholic smells and drunkenness not be detected on them—and maybe a souvenir or two.

It was mutually decided to keep Hazaar in the dark on what was to expected to be at the concert. The rest of the drive was quiet; they listened to the radio, and looked at the scenery that passed them by; when they got to Hesse, he paid for their admission to the state when they got to the toll that sat before its border then asked for his passengers to help him in looking at the signs. It took a good ten minutes to find the town, and to find somewhere to park. After the BMW was parked, they got out then scrambled as fast as they could to the venue... which was this large building that looked very much like a coliseum!

"Have your ticket on you, or paying at the podium?" the man who stood before the building asked about five minutes after they got in his line. Giovanni had, surprisingly, beat him and Bile to the line; Hazaar was between he and their bruder.

"Buying at the podium." Giovanni said while taking his rather beat-up wallet from his back pants pocket.

"Enjoy, sir." the man said after taking the money given to him them sliding a ticket forward. The man did this three more times before checking to see if there were more people coming or if they were his last customers. When he saw that no one was coming to get in his line, he turned then went to close the building up.

Giovanni held them up for two minutes after they got in the venue. Once his beer was purchased, he took to the rear of their group. They scurried as fast as they could to where everyone seemed to be then found themselves a place to stand. They then waited for the concert to begin—with it being scheduled to begin at 6:35 p.m., and with it being five minutes past that time, it was a little behind in getting started. It took another five minutes before the local band that headlined the concert came on; they jammed to this odd-sounding band for all of fifteen minutes before going crazy after the main bands that they were there to hear came on.

Some four hundred or so years ago, when people started making a return to liking the bands that existed in the twentieth and twenty-first century, a device was invented so money could be made from this interest, and so people who liked them bands could see hologram-like images of them playing their songs. When the device was first invented, the holograms were rather cartoony and unappealing; over the years, the holograms were so life-like that it almost looked like the people who use to be in them bands were still alive. Five Finger Death Punch did more than make the venue "shiver" and "rattle" with their tunes; the people around them sent up a chorus when Aerosmith came on, then an loud scream erupted when Airbourne was announced as coming on. He and his bruders had a beer on them when Airbourne came on; them beers didn't stay in their cups, or get drunk—they splashed the floor after they leaped up then started cheering and singing along with some of the songs that were being played. When ACDC came on, the roof damn near came down on them. Bile came close to doing as some of the people around them were, while Hazaar actually went through in doing it—their younger bruder looked very much like he was surfing all while he was riding the hands that took him towards the aisle; when he returned to where they were, he was all smiles.

Five Finger Death Punch did three encores; Aerosmith bedazzeled the crowd with four; and Airbourne surprised everyone by doing five. ACDC, being the Rock Gods that they were, did an astounding seven encores before saying goodnight. In the course of six hours, he and his bruders had three beers a-piece; Giovanni went a little crazy by having five. His friend, while being a little on the tipsy side, was sober enough to leave the main part of the venue with them after the hologram image of Brian Johnson said that his audience was most awesome and that he looked forward to seeing them again.

After the concert ended, they bought a few t-shirts, and beverage containers, then started to leave. The fun, on their end, ended right after they left the venue.

"Watch it!" a girlie with short, black hair, and dull, blue eyes, snapped at him after he walked into her.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Move your clodhoppin' feet!" the girlie's companion, who had dark brown hair, that was slightly spiky, and uneven on the sides, and dull, blue eyes, said after he found himself as unable to move past him and his companion.

"Hey!" he said after the guy pushed, then came close to tripping him.

It took him a little while to figure that the two were following him, and were purposely trying to create trouble between him and them. It also took him a while to notice who they were.

Mathis Meyer Jr., and his wife, Lenora Falkenrath, had two daughters and three sons. Their oldest son was in his late twenties, while their middle-son was close to being twenty-four. Their youngest son was called Justin; he was closing in on nineteen. Their oldest daughter was a year younger than Justin, while their youngest was close to being thirteen. While he had his run-ins with Alvin and Mirco, he was mostly bothered by Justin... who got a kick out of getting him into trouble, and making certain chores up so to keep him busy and feel even more fatigued that what he already was. He had his issues with Emmy as well but, of the Meyer girlies, it was mostly Beatrix that he had to worry about.

Beatrix liked doing three things with him when he was living under her parents' roof. One revolved around her snapping at him for no reason, while the second was her slapping at his arms or backside when he wasn't looking; the third was her preference for doing the "oops" thing whenever she was walking past him. If the third thing was done, she's throw whatever it was that was on her plate, or in her cup, at him. She created a lot of messes for him to clean up thanks to that third interest of hers. On certain days, she was fond of making secret messes in the house then rushing to her parents; once she reached them, she'd tell them that he was "slacking" on the job.

Even though he was under the same roof as Justin and Beatrix during their childhoods, and even though it was going on a year and six months since he lived under that roof, he didn't recognise them right off for who they were. The same went on what they were doing. It was only when Justin tore his souvenir t-shirt from his hand that he recognised who he was, and it was only when Beatrix slapped his backside, then twirled him around so he was facing her, that he recognised who she was.

When he recognised who they were, his eyes grew wide then he shrank back. He started looking for Bile and Hazaar right away.

"Slave-Child should be carrying all of what his masters have bought." Beatrix said in her dry, but oddly soft, voice. She glanced at Bile and Hazaar, who were now turning to take in what was going on behind them, before turning her attention back to him. "With you being the ward of our planet's so-called protector, you should be run ragged."

"And shouldn't be showing your morbid mug to everyone." Justin yanked his hoodie back; he reacted by twisting himself around then pushing him back. Justin, the bruder who was never a bruder to him, and who he'd never consider as being his bruder, shook his head before lunging at him. "Them people that have you must of slipped in their discipline of you. My dat would tear your hide from you in nothing flat if you was still under his roof."

"With the way his back's all wrapped up, looks like they're not getting through to him." Beatrix cawed. "Dat always said you was stubborn, and stupid, and it looks like you've continued them things."

"G?" Bile said while coming up.

"And the son of the demon across the seas approaches." Beatrix laughed after seeing Bile. When Hazaar came up, she merely looked at him before giving out a strange laugh. "And one of the weeds of our "protector" also approaches."

"Take it that all of you royal-thinking lot are here?" Justin asked.

"Come on, G. The air smell ranks in this area, and the scenery isn't very good either." Bile said while taking him by the shoulder then pulling him forward. When he mentioned something about his shirt being with Justin, his bruder nodded his head then stopped to address the one who had his souvenir. "Don't know who you are, but one of you has an item that belongs to my brother. I'll be nice this one time in asking for it to be given to me."

"Oh, he'll be nice this one time. Ain't that nice! Junior Vile is threatening to sick his dat on us if he doesn't get his servant's dumb shirt back." Justin exclaimed after emitting a laugh.

While the concert was great, the events of right now weren't. The one who had his brother's shirt was the ugliest human that he had ever seen—and he didn't look full-grown yet, so he was probably going to look even unglier in the years to come! Along with having his hair set in the most ridiculous of styles, his pants were low... so much so that it looked like he took a dump in them. The human's face sported more than enough pimples on it; with his trunk-like nose, small eyes, and grayish complexion, he looked like an elephant. He came close to laughing when he saw that his hands were close to being nail-less, and that them nails had red nail polish on them.

The boy's female companion was, without a doubt, a relative of his. If he had to make any guesses, they were brother and sister. The girl, unlike her companion, who was close to being rail thin, was quite round; with her features, she looked more like a Gorilla than an elephant. Unlike the boy, who looked around the age of one who was allowed to be out at this hour in the evening, she looked a bit too young to be out and about. One look made him think that she was either a tomboy or lesbian—there was something about her that didn't look feminine, or straight.

After taking these two humans in, he approached the one who had his brother's shirt. The one who had the shirt stepped back, then produced a knife from his front left pants pocket. It was only when the knife was seen that he opened his mouth, then said the spell that'd move the shirt to the BMW's trunk. After the shirt was relocated from where it was, he said the spell that did the same with his brother's beverage mug—with the way the boy acted, he'd not put it against him if he went for it next. The human had no more been relinquished of the item that he had before becoming violent.

"Du scheißkerl ausländer dämon!" the boy exclaimed while slashing his knife at him. After jumping back to avoid being hit, he grabbed the arm that the weapon was in. It was a small contest to get the knife out of the kid's grasp; once the knife was on the ground, and the boy was backing away away from him, he turned to go back to his brothers.

"Let's get out of here before something happens." Bile said to his brothers.

They weren't allowed to leave the area. Right after his back was turned, the boy lunged for the knife. After reclaiming it as his, he rushed at his backside then swung it. He howled after the blade's cold steel sliced a good, three-inch cut into his lower back then turned to face the one who assaulted him. As it turned out, it wasn't he who intercepted the boy, or got into a fight with him.

Giovanni, who doubled back after seeing that he was alone, grabbed the boy by the arm then swung him around. He and the boy stared at one another for a short while before a fist was thrown; they were tusseling on the ground in no time after the punch was thrown. Giovanni had just bloodied the boy's mouth and nose when the whistle was heard. The policeman was quick in both running up to the ones who were fighting, in separating them, and in asking them what was going on; even though he and his brothers spoke in their defense after the boy said that they ganged up on him and his sister, and that one of them had a knife on them, and then spoke in Giovanni's defense, the man didn't listen or see them as the innocent parties. The call was made to the station; two squad cars were requested then the man said for him and his brothers to get on the ground and then stay there, which they honestly did.

It was about five minutes later when the two cars came, and when he and his brothers, and Giovanni, were told to stand and then turn around. Along with being searched, he and Guyunis were placed in cuffs and then thrown in one of the two cars; Giovanni and Hazaar, after being searched, were also cuffed, but they weren't thrown in the same car as they. After the two cars were full of the ones that they were called down for, they were driven towards downtown Lampertheim.

The last thing that he remembered, before being carted to the town's jail, then processed for his "crime", was what his parents said to him and his brothers before they left for the concert. While they behaved themselves, and the spell was done to make any alcoholic smells and drunkenness not be detected on them, they had gotten involved with two people that they shouldn't of gotten involved with. They had also gotten into a bit of trouble by being placed in cuffs, and then carted to jail. While his mother might understand what happened, his father might not. For all he knew, his father might not ever let him or his brothers out of his sight after tonight's events... and he might also force them to move from the planet too.


	24. Chapter 24

"With what happened yesterday, and what's on your records, I don't blame you for wanting to get away from them. What happened shouldn't of happened, and that policeman should of known who was in the right and in the wrong."

"We did wha-k-t he said! If-if-if we didn-k-t, one or all three of us would of been hit by him. Or-or worse—shot at!"

"And that was very wise of you and your brothers to do. Proud of all three of you for how you handled the situation, and with how you handled yourselves after you were given the round-about in that jail."

The call came in at around two in the morning. While Angel was close to being dead to the world, he was very awake—this caused him to be the one to answer the phone. Along with hearing that something happened to the ones who went to see the concert, he learned that they needed some help in getting out from their predicament. Once he heard what was going on with Bile, his two brothers, and Guyunis's friend, he woke Angel up; while they got themselves dressed, he told her what happened with the boys. While Angel beat him in getting dressed, he beat her in getting out of the house and to her car. His wife was the one who teleported them to Lampertheim, then found the building that the boys were in, while he was the one who paid for the wrongly jailed boys to be released.

Of the four boys that were jailed in Lampertheim, only Giovanni was talkative while on the way back to Elchesheim-Illingen. Due to his use of teleportation to get them back home, the boy was given a good lesson on how one who was mortal felt after being teleported somewhere. While Giovanni spoke on what happened, Bile, Guyunis, and Hazaar were quiet and to themselves.

"Once their things, and a copy of the report, were given over, we heard what happened after they reached the jail." he thought while ascending the stairs.

After their pockets were searched, and their possessions and fingerprints taken, they were put in a large cell with twenty or so others. Giovanni mostly stood before the ones that were jailed with him while Bile and Guyunis did nothing but stand in a corner; Hazaar was the only one to walk around freely—this caused him to get a bit roughed up by one of the people that were in the cell with him.

It took about an hour of asking if they could get their one phone call before someone came to see if they wanted to make that call. It was a woman who did this, and who witnessed the call being made and then confirmed that what was relayed to him was true.

"What's wrong with them people? Don't they know or see a lie when it stares them in the face?" his wife said while on the drive home. On average, they spent around twenty minutes on the road from Lampertheim, Hesse, Germany before teleporting; they spent another ten minutes on the road before pulling up before Giovanni's place then dropping him off. Once Giovanni was home, they went on their way. Angel teleported them one more time; the boys practically broke their necks to get inside after the car was stopped and it was announced that they were home.

He honestly didn't know. The parents to the two Meyer kids were fast in going to the station after being called; along with picking their kids up, they heard the news on what was going on then said that they weren't surprised that "the heroine's kids were as they were, and that Guyunis was being allowed to be as they were". They also said that they were suing if "damage" was found on either of their kids and if Guyunis wasn't "put on a leash and then kept indoors". Angel claimed to of met the Meyer's once; a few days after Guyunis's forms were signed, she had to go to them for their signatures. Along with getting into a bit of a heated argument with them, she heard that they wanted to keep Guyunis as the one who did all the chores in their home—according to his wife, they came right out in saying that they wanted to retain "ownership" of their slave. In order to get them to sign Guyunis's forms, Angel threatened to turn them into the agency that handled Guyunis's adoptions, and child protective services—according to her, they grew unsettled after this was said then signed the forms; they said for her to get the hell off their property and to never come back afterwards.

While a fight was done with Justin and Beatrix Meyer, it didn't involve any of his sons. Bile was injured by Justin right after he turned then started leading his brothers away from the ones who were causing trouble, then Giovanni came in to both intercept and teach the one who hurt him a lesson. By way of his taking Bile's memory of the assault, he learned that all of what he had figured, and all of what he was told, was true—the boys were innocent; they were leaving the venue when they were approached by the ones who assaulted them. The boys, and Giovanni, had a court case this coming August 26; along with bringing the copied memory that he retrieved from Bile's mind, he was to bring the hand-written testimony that he made after the boys were in bed and asleep.

Since it was probably going to be mentioned, or brought up by the defendant or prosecutor or lawyer that the Meyer's were going to hire for the case, he was to bring a document showing what Telepathy was and then a hand-written note saying that he didn't forge the memory that he took from his son's memory banks.

If anything, Angel and he should be suing the Meyer's for their ill-treatment of Guyunis over the years that they had him, and for the assault that their kids made on the boys. Bile was sporting a deep, three-inch long gash on the middle part of his back, Guyunis was very badly traumatized, and Hazaar had an elbow-like cut that went from the left side of his forehead on down to the left side of his face—while Justin did receive some injuries from Giovanni during their fight, the fight that the two had was based on self-defense, and on the safe removal of the knife that Justin had and was trying to use on Giovanni. Giovanni's court case was also scheduled for August 26, and at the same time too; with the two cases happening at the same time, he was to help the young man out by showing the memory then speaking on his behalf on what happened. If the case was lost, he'd do the spell that'd make the memories of the event in question become null and void. He honestly didn't think that he'd have to go and do that but, if he did, he would—he had no problem in doing it if it came to that.

Angel was concerned over her losing custody of Guyunis thanks to this, and Guyunis was terrified of being removed from the house and having someone imprison him for the rest of his life. Eshal, while thoroughly scared for her brother, was doing her best to stay calm and, really, so were the other boys. Hazaar, who's limp was nearly all gone, went though a day of headaches before returning to his old self while Bile's injury was still present on him—until the date of their needing to be in court came, and their case was seen and then given a verdict, both he and his wife didn't want to touch or remove it from his body. Bile was more upset over hearing that Justin and Beatrix Meyer were the former siblings of his brother than over his being put in jail and given a jail record—which, if the case wasn't won, wouldn't exist after he swiped everyone's memories of what happened on that fateful night.

The only good thing that occurred from this horrible process was his growing relationship with Guyunis. The boy was speaking with him, and was asking him more than enough questions on what'd happen if he was removed from his family and the house, and was disclosing his fears and emotions on the situation; he was glad for this, and for the opening up of the boy's shell. It was about damn time that they started speaking and growing a bit close to one another and it was also time that he was allowed the priviledge of going into his room to see how it looked and, of course, check it out for items that may or may not be allowed to be put up in his chamber on Moas—which he had, sadly, not yet gotten around to picking or fixing up.

"Hey there," he said after appearing before the open doorway of Guyunis's room, and seeing that Guyunis was lying on his bed.

"Hey," Guyunis returned.

"May I?" he asked.

The nod was given, which gave him his say on coming in and giving the room a once-over—while also speaking with its owner, of course.

Now, he had seen the plank bed, which, on the planet that he was on, was called the Tioga for some peculiar reason, before. The bed that Guyunis was lying on looked very much like that type of bed. It was pushed up against the room's left-side wall, and had a dark gray bed set on it that had light gray, Octopus tentacle designs on it. There were two, rectangular pillows on the bed, which were in matching pillow cases. Beside the bed sat a mango wood bedside cabinet, which looked to match the bed very well. He found himself as liking the lamp, that had a camouflage lampshade and grenade-shaped base, that sat on the cabinet's surface; of the boys in the house, it looked like Guyunis was the only one to not have an alarm clock in his room.

A reclaimed Barnwood dresser sat across from the bed. It had a very finely preserved, short-haired cow Elk hide stretched across it. The 30", flat screen tv, that was above the dresser, matched the others that were owned by the other boys in the house. While he noticed the few, out-of-place items that were on the dresser's surface, he didn't turn to look at them. After seeing the bookshelf, he had to look at it first.

"Rather unique shelf you have here." he said after taking in the tall and wide bookshelf that had Birch branches and mahogany-colored shelves on it.

"Though-k-t so myself when I saw it in the catalo-k-g that Mr. Leinart gave me and my family last year." Guyunis replied.

Seeing as Guyunis responded so quickly to his comment on his bookshelf, he went towards it. The bookshelf was between the room's upper right corner and closet; after coming closer to it, he saw that the branches acted as the structured part, and that they kept the shelves up.

Guyunis was either a modest decorator or didn't keep much from his hunts. The bookshelf was lacking that of what his brothers were very open in displaying in their rooms. The first shelf had a skull on it that was quite big; upon closer inspection, he saw that it belonged to an Egyptian lion. There were a bunch of Pronghorn antelope hooves, and Zebra hooves, before the skull. Half of the hooves had a fox tail pinned beneath them—the one closest to the wall was both black-tipped, gray in color, and had a rusty undertone to it; the following tail was both a grayish-tan color and had a black tip; the next one had a white tip to it, and was red, but had a black undertone to it; while the following one was also red, and had a white tip to it, it had no undertone to it. The following shelf had a seemingly growing collection of CDs on it; another of the stereos that were in all of the boys' rooms was beside them while, beside it, sat a row of magazines. The next shelf had a Desert cottontail rabbit skull, a Beaver skull, and an interesting lamp on it—it was both Nuke-shaped and a bright-glowing, golden-yellow color.

The next shelf verified his figuring on Guyunis having an interest in motorcycles. He had a few models of them vehicles on this shelf. One was of a Harley Davidson FLHTCUI, which had a blood-covered vampire driver in it, while another was of a Honda CB400. The model beside the Honda was of a Yamaha XV 1600, while the one beside it was of another Honda, but this one being a Goldwing GL1000.

The fifth shelf had all of the boy's books on it. It seemed that Guyunis had an interest in action and adventure, suspense, horror, mystery, and science fiction; it also looked like he had a good collection going on in them genres.

Beside the bookshelf sat a cat bed that looked to be both hooded and made of faux suede. With the closet door being open, he was able to see that there was a box full of cat toys, and a litter box, full of litter, in it.

"Like this poster here," he said after going towards the room's closet, then taking in the poster that was on its door. The poster had an evil-looking, black cat on it; along with walking down a flaming cobbled walkway, its mouth was open in a snarl. Its ears were very nearly laid against its head. The eyes of the evil feline looked to resemble the ones that Guyunis had.

"So do I, which is why I bought i-k-t." Guyunis said.

A poster of a flaming motorcycle was beside the closet. He looked at it for only a second before turning his attention back to the bookshelf. Once he was facing the bookshelf, he saw that he had missed seeing the item that was before it—the rather beautiful, rusty brown, Icelandic sheepskin rug was in fantastic condition! When he asked about it, he found that it wasn't a trophy from one of Guyunis's hunts. Guyunis claimed that, after he saw it in the catalog that he, his siblings, and their mother were given to leave their marks in, he had to have it. While hearing this piece of information, he took note of the rug that was beside the boy's bed—along with being gray and white in color, and resembling that of what was found on a Gray wolf, it was 3'4" by 4'10" long. Again, when questioned on this rug, Guyunis said that he found it in the catalog that he and his family were given.

Before moving along, he noticed that there was another rug in the room. It was sitting before the foot of the boy's bed; along with being a brownish-tan and white color, it was a little displaced. Again, when he questioned this item, he received the same answer that he got when he questioned the other two rugs.

"Nice boar skull," he said after seeing the skull that was above the bed's headboard.

"Was hell bringing-k that thing down!" Guyunis confided. "Didn-k-t know how to hunt back when I go-k-t it, so I got a bi-k-t mangled."

A rather impressive Moose rack was on the wall that the bed was pushed again. To its left hung a set of Mule deer antlers. Before moving on to look at the room's other items, he looked at the Mountain Lion pelt, that was stretched across the bed's baseboard—it was very nicely preserved; like with Bile, he knew that the boy was taking good care of his hunting trophies. This was only given credence when he saw that the chair, that went to the room's small table, which was in the bottom right corner, had a pelt draped across its back. One look was all it took for him to note that it belonged to a Lynx.

"Didn't ask for a corner desk when you were looking through that catalog?" he asked the boy.

"Didn-k-t cross my mind to do so. Didn't think I'd have use for one." Guyunis replied.

There were three shelves on the table that contained all the items that one who built models needed. At the moment, the table was empty of anything to build—seeing as there were a few shelves on the walls, he knew better than to think that Guyunis wasn't fully into building models.

The two, long, reclaimed wood shelves, that stretched from the motorcycle poster to the room's bottom right corner, had more than a few models on them, and not all of them revolved around motorcycles either.

The first model that he looked at was of a yellow-painted Motorbike motorcross motorcycle—or, as he liked to call them, The Triple M's. The one that was beside it was of a Honda NSR500 '84, which was blue-painted; a custom model of an American Indian was beside it while the one that was beside it was of a Harley Davidson Electra Glide, which was white-painted. The following models weren't of the motorcycle variety—they were either monster or movie related. The first was of the Garthok Monster, which was featured in the movie, Coneheads; the second was of the Ghost Rider, who was astride his flame-covered motorcycle; and the next was of a black-haired woman who was sitting on a skull and wearing a very tight, red-colored spandex suit. The final model was depicted with her legs being quite spread; it looked like it had a very nicely muscled stomach. As much as it pained him, he decided to be lenient in letting Guyunis keep and display this model after the move to Moas was done. The model that was beside the woman was of a hatchling dragon, which was either glued or built onto a piece of driftwood.

He fought to not laugh after the next shelf's models were seen. Angel hussled him into watching the 1982 version of The Thing one day after Eshal, Bile, and Lhaklar were put down for a nap and it just so happened that Guyunis had a resin model of the Norris monster from that movie on the shelf. The next model was of The Monster That Challenged The World—yes, he had seen the 1957 movie about the army of prehistoric mollusks that escaped California's Salton Sea after an underwater earthquake happens and, yes, it was Angel who pressed him into watching it. The next model was of the Creature from the Black Lagoon; it looked like it was both crying and had a female version of itself in its arms. A diorama of the 1958 film, Fiend Without a Face, was seen next, then a model of an Alien Queen Chestburster was seen, then a Freakhouse Freak model was seen. He had to stop to give the model of Burt Gummer being rescued after being eaten by a Graboid a second look before going on to look at the model of a very busty Medusa, which was from the movie Clash of the Titans. While the Medusa model was the final model on the shelf, it wasn't the final model in the room. The same went on it not being the final displayed item that he looked at.

"Need only one look to know that he's straight," he thought after going to look at the items that were on the three, gray-stone mantle shelves, which were on the wall to the right of the bedroom door.

The top shelf was dominated in motorcycle models, which gave him the idea that the boy was more than a little interested in the vehicles. The first model was of a 1912 Henderson, while the second was of a WWII German BMW R75, with sidecar attachment. The following two models were given to him on his birthday—the 1886 Benz motorwagon was very finely put together, as was the Tamiya 16040 FLH Classic Harley Davidson. The next shelf, while also having some motorcycle models on it, had another model on it that looked very out-of-place; the green-painted, BSA C15 was very snazzy, as was the black and gray-painted VRSCR Street Rod, while the silver-painted Midnight Rider Chopper was very eye-catching. The model of a mutated mummy, which was beside the Midnight Rider Chopper, was also nicely done—due to it not being motorcycle-related, it looked to belong on the second of the long shelves more than on this one. The third and final shelf had a very red, 1886 American LaFrance Silsby-Manning Steam Fire Engine on it; a model of a brown-haired woman, who was wearing black bra and panties, and was half-lying on a casket, was beside it while, beside it was a model of a reddish-brown haired cavewoman who was wearing the typical, but very sexually enticing, cave-person outfit.

"When the move to Moas is made, I might need to do the same with his chamber like with what I've done to his brothers'—connect the one that lies to its left, or right, with it so he can display the items that he has in here in it... so his bedroom won't get to looking but so cluttered." he thought while going to look at the items that were on the dresser.

He found himself as liking the room's third-placed lamp very much. While it was white, and was turned on, he wasn't attracted to them two things; his attention was grabbed by the fact that it looked like one's lower intestine. The preserved Colugo, and Bird-of-paradise, were beside the lamp while, beside them, was a wooden box. When he asked and then received permission from the boy who owned it if he could open it, he found that its contents were very disorganized. After rummaging around, he found a wolf tooth pendant, that had a howling wolf styled, titanium cap on it, two gold chain necklaces, a pendant that had a round, red onyx on it, a pendant that had a black onyx column on it, a serrated shark tooth necklace, a set of snake-designed, Japanese Samurai sword/katana copper fittings, and a knife in it. The knife, when he took it out, then opened it, was fan-designed and rather sharp and silver. After seeing what the knife looked like, he returned it to the box then closed the lid.

"See that you, too, have a sword in your room." he said after going to look at the shelf that was between the boy's bed and dresser.

"Yep, and slowly learning-k how to use i-k-t." Guyunis replied.

Except for having no models on it, the shelf was like that of the ones that were across the room. It had two beer steins, a sword, and a fox tail on it. The first stein was black in color, and horn-shaped; it had red and silver Eagle engravings on it. The second stein was dark blue in color, and had a lot of bone designs on it that were done in ivory. The fox tail, which was white, was pinned beneath the second stein—he did think that this was a good decision on the boy's part on how to display this particular animal tail. The sword, that was between the two steins, did not resemble that of the boy's father or half-brother's; in comparison to the boy's adopted brothers' own swords, it was quite bland.

The blade was long, and covered in a mixture of gold and silver dust. The rain-guard was designed to look like an open-mouthed skull, which had two, real ruby eyes in it, and which the blade protruded from rather nicely and cleanly. The grip, while having a set of grooves in it, was a two-tone, dull silver and gold color. The cross-guards curved down gently; while the pommel was a plain, open circle.

While the sword was bland in comparison to Bile's, Lhaklar's, Hazaar's, and Lazeer's, he didn't say anything negative on it. To each his own when it comes to a sword's design, and to how he or she wanted to display it.

After taking in the room's final-placed shelf, he looked around for the antelope head that Guyunis said he wanted to get preserved, and that he sent to someone in town to preserve for him. When he couldn't find it, he asked about it.

"The guy's real busy righ-k-t now and hasn't been able to g-k-et to it." Guyunis replied to his question.

"You pay him yet for what you want done on it?" he asked.

"No."

"Good," he thought before saying," Why don't you go see him tomorrow and remove the item that you want him to work on? The guy that I've sent your brothers' trophies, and Eshal's one bird, to is a lot faster than he, and he might do a better job on it too."

"How much does he charge you?" Guyunis asked. "I pu-k-t half of this month's allowance to the side for tha-k-t antelope head to be worked on, so I can-k-t spend but so much on it."

"You let me worry on that." he said.

"You'll pay for it, and no-k-t ask for a reimbursement from me?"

"Yes, son."

While the act of his calling Guyunis 'son' was relatively easy for him, it gave Guyunis a shock. It also caused him to have a small regression towards him that lasted for the rest of the day and through the morning hours of August 22. Guyunis did as he suggested in going back to the man who he took his antelope head to for its preservation. The desired item for preserving was removed from the man's shop and then brought home; he no more saw the close to being foul-smelling bundle before spell-sending it to the one who he did business with on a regular basis—the man, upon receiving his call, said that he'd do his best with it. It was an hour more before Guyunis's regression came to a close, and he made a return to how he was with him. Lunch, on August 22, was pleasant, and Angel and the boys were quite surprised in seeing that Guyunis had asked Bile to switch chairs with him. Since the boy was so fearful of being seen while being out and about in the town or towns nearby, he didn't leave the house anymore after retrieving his antelope head. Along with playing the game system that Angel gave to him on his birthday, and interacting with his cat, he listened to some music and read a book or two.

It was around four in the afternoon when Lazeer was seen as leaving the house. While he was curious on where he was going, and what he was planning on doing, he left him alone. He was currently on the phone with his stepfather. The man, instead of calling his cellular, had called the house's landline number; Angel was both aware of his wanting to come over for a visit and half-willing to have him do so.

"Well, that's great on you and Guyunis finally opening up to one another but it's not on the arrest being made. Them humans do know that the boys aren't at fault for what happened, right?" Cheshire's bass-like, droning voice asked over the phone.

"Think some do. Others, not so sure." TazirVile replied.

"What were they doing in the location that they were arrested in?" Cheshire asked.

"Attending a concert. Perfectly innocent activity."

"Where was it held?"

"In Lampertheim, Hesse, Germany—over an hour away from here."

"Take it that you and Angel weren't concerned over something happening, or that they'd not behave themselves?"

The answer to that was a yes on his end and a no on Angel's. According to Angel, some of the boys had attended concerts on their own before, and knew how to behave and go by the rules set before them by both her and the venue that they were planning on being in. Bile and Guyunis went to a venue in Pforzheim for a hologram concert in November of last year—testimony from his wife said that, while they came home later than expected, they weren't punished; they only stayed longer than expected because the bands did a lot of encores, which they wanted to see. Lhaklar, Guyunis, and Hazaar also went to Leicestershire, England for a music festival that they were interested in seeing... and which was said to be a "ball" to all of them. Except for his Goblins taking note of Bile, and an unknown Guyunis, in the Pforzheim venue on November 26, no bad events happened to hinder any of the boys during them events... and they were both behaved and happy upon their return home.

Even though he was assured by his wife over the boys behaving themselves while being at the concert at Lampertheim, he still approached and gave the word for them to behave, to do no drinking or smoking, or drug using, and to be home at midnight. Angel was quite fast in contradicting his instructions by telling the boys that they could stay until the concert was over, which meant that they'd be getting home a lot later than midnight. He had estimated the time of their homecoming being at around two or three in the morning; while they got home at around that estimated time, it wasn't by normal means. He held nothing against the boys for their outing but he did feel a bit over-challenged by his wife's given instructions and ideas on the boys being fine.

His first concert was attended when he was fifty to sixty years past being an adult. While he was behaved during it, he did get a bit tipsy from taking more than two drinks down. On his second concert, he took a pill that left him as being a bit on the incapacitated side for most of the following morning. People sometimes did things that they normally wouldn't do when they're at a concert and he had acted on that impulse; while the boys had no alcoholic odors on them, or acted like they took a drink or two down, or did any drugs, he wouldn't be surprised if they didn't indulge in something that they shouldn't of done.

On the next occurrence, where one or more of the boys found and then decided to go to a concert, he was planning on being a bit more firm on their either not going or taking either he or Angel with them. Having an adult with them would help in keeping them safe, and in stopping them from indulging in the practices that one who went to a concert did.

"If I were you, I'd be more careful on their next concert attendance. They're young, and want to experience things, but some things are either better to not experience or have an adult party there to assist in experiencing." Cheshire said after two minutes of silence occurred between them.

"Planning on being more firm on them when the next attendance at a concert is mentioned." TazirVile said.

"I'd also restrict the limit of their "territorial" excursions. A concert that's located over a hour away is too far; one that's twenty to thirty minutes is more appropriate for one of your sons' age."

"Agreed."

According to Guyunis, the concert's location never hit home with him. It wasn't until after they were jailed that the location of where they were came to him. Guyunis's former parents lived in the country of Hesse, which was where the concert was held, and they also lived in this large house that was situated on a hill. While the concert was more located in a city dwelling, it was still too close to the boy's former station—a fact that both Guyunis, Angel, and he noticed right after the boys were picked up from where they were taken.

While the idea of grabbing his family then "fleeing" with them to Moas occurred right after the boys were picked up, he didn't think too hard on it or give it more than a good consideration. August was nearly over; it practically flew by, which was a relief to him because it meant that the time was going by faster and the expected time for him and his to relocate from the planet was "creeping" in closer. He was honestly hoping that the next three months went by just as fast.

"When the boys have their court case, do me a favor and put in a call. I'd like to hear how it went, and how everyone feels after it occurs." Cheshire said. "Before I go see what Phaggo's doing with them cows, let me ask what you're planning on doing if the verdict comes through against them."

As his step-grandfather was getting the scoop on how his father was going to react to the verdict if it was against his brothers, he was leading his three friends to the dump that was in Rheinstetten. He and his friends were a good fifteen minutes from the house, but they were sure that his father would grow more than a little sweaty if he knew or found out about that; in order to go to the city, he snuck out of the house then rushed to where Eli, Kiefer, and Killian were.

Seeing as everything was as good as it was at home, and that everyone was either half-so or fully getting along, he decided to see if he could find a few things for everyone that might perk everyone's moods up. Kiefer and Killian were just hoping to use their slingshot on the rats that were known to be in the city's dump, while Eli was hoping to find a few things to take home and get ready to sell. If he came across anything that was good, but that wouldn't suit the house or anyone who lived in it, he'd not think twice on doing the same as he. After entering the dump, then spreading out a bit, he and his friends got busy on what they were looking forward to doing.

"Got school coming up, and m'dat doesn't like buying me all black clothes; whatever I make from what I find and then sell will be spent on nothing but black shirts, socks, and pants." Eli said after lunging for the first pile of junk that he saw. His friend, instead of wearing black that day, was wearing a red and orange shirt and blue jeans; his father was trying to break him of his Goth interest, which didn't seem to be happening.

School had only just come to a close; with the days that were missed having been re-made, the ones who handled the system decided to close the doors of all of the country's schools and then say that the next two and a half months were free to the ones who went to their establishments. Everyone was more than overjoyed on this happening, and on summer vacation not being shortened; with this being known to him, he knew that his friend wasn't looking to get the revenue from the stuff that he sold for school clothes. Eli had very recently opened up to him on his being gay, so it was presumed that he was looking to buy a few things that'd go with his sexual orientation. Eli had also spoken on how he wanted his hair to be cut, so he might use some of what he got from what he sold to get that done.

At the moment, Eli's hair was near shoulder-length. The bangs were combed to the side, so that they draped over his left eye. After speaking to his friend on his hair, he learned that he wanted some of the bang-portion to be dyed a blue color while the rest was to remain black. His hair was to be cut short, but still be well-maintained. None of that undercut or other hairstyle crap was to be done on it.

From what he was told, Eli's father wasn't very happy over his son's orientation. He was trying to kick it to the curb by being the one who bought his clothes, and took him to get his hair cut. Eli, for the last few years, was both buying his makeup in private and applying it in private—with his father being the way he was, he took it off before going home.

"Wonder how the old man would react if one of us was bi or gay." Lazeer thought before going towards the first pile that his eye landed on.

Along with coming right out in saying that he was gay, Eli said that he had a crush on him and that he thought his father was "cute". After hearing this, he had to ask for his father to come into the room—he just looked at the old foggy; with his looks, he definitely didn't look "cute". If he had to pin a term to the man, he'd have to say that he was either "good-looking" or "handsome". His father asked if he was feeling well on that day, which occurred on the seventeeth, while, on the following day, during supper, when he asked him what he'd do or say if he found that someone of the male gender had a crush or thought of him as cute, the man asked if there was something wrong. The answer to his question? He'd do nothing because he was straight and, while accepting of people of any orientation, didn't go for male-on-male contact or like hearing about the fetishes that people of the same-sex preferring orientations did.

After thinking what he did, then getting started on his first heap of junk of the day, he found something that might interest one of his brothers.

"I can imagine Hazaar's face after he sees you." he said to the timetrain representation model that was based from the third movie in the Back to the Future franchise. The franchise was given more than twenty remakes over the years, but this model was based more on the original than on the remakes.

A poster of the train that "pushed" the Delorean from the tracks, and gave it the push that it needed to get back to 1985, was found next. He was also sure that Hazaar would like it, so he put it to the side for him. The poster looked to be a photograph from the movie, and not any photograph at that—the train was airbourne, and was on fire after going the maximum speed that it needed to go in to get the Delorean to the time period that it needed to go to. A model of the floating Delorean was found next—with this find, he deduced that someone threw out a collection of stuff that pertained to the Back to the Future series; if Lhaklar didn't like or want it, he was sure that Hazaar would. While his brother might not like the flying Delorean model, he was sure that he'd like the model that he just found after making a return to the pile.

Someone must of either had a moment or was in serious need of checking him or herself into an insane asylum; the model that he found was both in the box, not put together, and looked to be newly purchased. According to the box, it was of a Bianchi Classic Car—with Lhaklar being as interested in vintage cars as he was, he'd have a cow after seeing and then receiving it. Another unopened model, this one being of a 1931 Bugatti Royale, was found next before the pile's pickin's started ebbing low. He moved on after finding that model.

"Mine!" he exclaimed after coming across a robot that looked like a tail-less salamander. A few minutes later, he found its remote and tail; he was both happy to find these two items and looking forward to cleaning and then using them. He had yet to make a return to using his remote control Tarantula, and he hadn't used his helicopter since his father and his sister's arrival to the house. Maybe it was the time to do both?

When he came across a remote-controlled snake five minutes later, he decided to not only clean it but sell it—he didn't have an interest in snakes, but he knew that anything that ran on a remote control could fetch a good lot of money from the right buyer. A set of jewelry was found next—one was green, and made of crystal and glass, while the other was purple and made of amethyst—then a few rings were found. He decided that his mother would get the two necklaces from the set; the green glass cabochon, that was all sparkly, and the black gold banded ring, that had blue sapphire filling in its center, and a blue opal gem in it, were for his mother while the purple rose ring and the pink gold banded ring, that had a pink sapphire in its center, were for his sister. The pickin's in the pile dropped to next to nothing after the rings were found, so he moved on.

"Finding anything, Eli?" he asked after moving to his fifth pile. The third had nothing in it, while the fourth had just two things in it that he decided to not bother with.

"A few pieces of jewelry, and a doll. Nothing much. Think everyone's on to the next generation's little hobby, buddy." Eli called back to him.

Must be true because he went through the next two piles without finding a thing in them. In the seventh, and, he decided, last pile, he had better luck. The model of a mutated venus fly trap, from the 4097 movie, Trappers!, was cool and looked to have Bile's name written all it; while he liked it, he decided to give it to his brother. The next thing that he found was for Guyunis; the base said that it was something called an Unnamable Demon... all he knew was that its boobs could be seen. It had elf-like ears, and a mouth full of werewolf-like teeth; it's lower arms were hairy, like those of a werewolf's, while its lower legs, and feet, were goat-like in appearance. The final thing was for his sister—it was a doll that was both life-like and posable. He was quite sure that Eshal would like this very girlie Orangutan doll, that had a small, pink bow on the side of its head and was wearing a pink polka-dot outfit.

"Hey, Eli!" Lazeer yelled in his friend's direction.

"What?" his friend yelled back.

"The doll that you found, what does it look like?"

"Like one of them mantle dolls that's made of that very fragile stuff." Eli returned.

No thanks. Bile had yet to get rid of the porcelain dolls that he found last year, so no more of them needed to be added to what was already in the attic. Seeing as Eshal was a girl, and might have an interest in dolls, he thought about giving his brother the suggestion on giving the dolls that he had yet to get rid of to her—who knew, maybe she had a collection of the things going on in the mansion on Moas and would like to add some Earth-made dolls to it. After finding what he did, then seeing that the dump's available junk piles weren't putting out what they usually did, he went off to find Kiefer and Killian. He had a need for a smoke and they sometimes slipped a cigarette or two from their grandfather, who was known well for being a near-chain smoker; if one or the other had a cigarette on them, maybe they'd share it with him.

He was just going by a pile of rather rank stuff when the hint of yellow caught his attention. While keeping his thoughts on the possible smoke sharing that he might do with Keifer or Killian, he went towards it then started checking it out. The idea of a smoke evaporated at once after he came across the three dolls that were in the pile. While all of them were of the poseable sort, they were different in many ways. The first was of a Chimpanzee, which was wearing a yellow dress, that had a jean-like top on it, and a head-band that had a Daisy on it; the second was of this Cheetah, raccoon, lion thing that had large, near-blue eyes; while the third was like an Avatar representation that he did have to admit was rather cute. Each of the dolls were filthy, but he could well clean and then give them to his sister.

"That's enough. Go find Kiefer and Killian, see if you can share a smoke with them, then go home." he thought after finding the dolls then sending them, and the other things that he found, home.


	25. Chapter 25

_"Oh my gosh... It's so adorable!"_

 _The sound of his sister rushing from the room was loud... so much that it almost sounded like a stampede of wildebeests were running through the house. She wasn't slow in calling, looking, or finding and then showing their parents the thing that their youngest brother found for her._

 _The snub-nosed doll was the oddest looking thing that he had ever seen. While he knew of the 2009 James Cameron movie, he had never seen a silicone-made doll representation of its characters before. The doll sported a mohawk of black or dark brown hair on its head; its eyes were yellow and black; its lips, the underside of its nose, and the undersides of its hands and feet were a pinkish-purple color; and it had a too-long tail on it that matched the colors of its body... and that had a black or dark brown tuft of hair on its end. While its base-color was blue, its stripes were either a medium or dark blue color._

 _"Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen?"_

 _"Sure i..."_

 _"It's like a real baby!"_

 _"Eshal."_

 _"Feels like one too."_

 _"Eshal."_

 _"And it's heavy, like one too!"_

 _"Eshal!"_

 _The old man, though looking the doll over, was fast in seeing that something was "off" on it. His mother, and he, noticed this weird appendage next, while Eshal took a while to see it. The doll, while being all of what Eshal had said, was anatomically correct—why the hell did one want to make or have a doll that had the actual parts that were known to exist on all forms of life? After seeing the part that designated the doll as being a male, he wondered if Lazeer knew or if the appendage just slipped him by—he saw meaning behind the doll being given to their sister but he saw big cause in the appendage either needing to be covered or evicted. If Eshal didn't know what was between a male being's legs before getting the doll, he was sure that she did now._

 _The fact of the doll being lifelike, and being anatomically correct, didn't slip by the old man. The man was fast in trying to take the doll from Eshal then, when she "forbade" him from doing so, he requested that she put a diaper or something on it and fast. Eshal, after being shown the doll's odd appendage, gasped, then giggled, then grew a little dark in the cheek areas, before going towards the downstairs closet. A makeshift diaper, made from a simple wash rag, was put on the doll then Eshal said something about going into town tomorrow for a thing of newborn diapers—something that the old man approved of her doing._

 _"I need a basket too. Or something to act as a sort of crib or baby bed for him." Eshal said after the "diaper" was on the doll._

And she sure as hell got it a basket. The day following the doll's discovery, then gifting, his sister went to U-Krop-It for a thing of newborn diapers. Before coming home, she went to one of them arts and crafts stores for a basket, and some fabric and other things. She worked all damn day on that basket before saying it was done then plopping the doll in it. The doll was currently resting on the trunk that sat before the foot of her bed; no one, not even their parents, were allowed to "disturb" it.

Eshal wasn't just ecstatic over the Avatar baby doll; after receiving the other dolls, then the other items that Lazeer found while being in Rheinstetten's dump, she went just as crazy over them. The Orangutan and Chimpanzee dolls were currently sitting on one of her pillows, and the doll that looked like a weird hybrid of a Cheetah, raccoon, and lion was right beside them. The other items were sent to the mansion; he presumed that they found themselves as being spell-sent to his sister's jewelry box, or whatever it was that contained her jewelry.

He and his brothers were given what was found for them first before Lazeer called Eshal down then gave her what he found for her. After getting the items that were found for her, Eshal used the house phone to call their grandmother. After hearing that their grandmother wasn't available to talk to, she asked for their aunt; once their aunt reached the phone, then said hello, she found herself as having her ear yacked off by Eshal, who told her all of what was found for her.

Their father, while appreciative towards the gesture given to their sister, told Lazeer to be more mindful of what he found at the dump. The idea of the man telling Lazeer to not go to the dump anymore was thought of after he paused after saying what he did but, rather surprisingly, he didn't do so. He just looked at Lazeer, nodded his head, then turned to go to some other part of the house. Over the next two hours, he was either seen as "prancing" around their mother or watching the family-made videos that he brought to the house some months ago.

Seeing as their hobby was still available to them, and that he wasn't imprisoned for life, or thrown in jail for a few months or years for his "assault" of the two humans who use to be Guyunis's adopted siblings, he decided to go to the same dump that Lazeer went to. Since his brother needed to get out of the house, and do something other than look at the ladies, or find one of them to have sex with, he took Lhaklar with him.

"This place is huge!" Lhaklar exclaimed after they finished teleporting to the first of Rheinstetten's three dumps. "This is where Lazeer found all of what he did on the twenty-secondth?"

"According to him, yep." Hazaar replied while going towards the entrance.

"Should get a cart or something—with it being as big as is it, we'll surely find a lot here." Lhaklar said while falling in step with him.

How Lazeer was able to come home with what he did was beyond him; after entering the dump, then going to where a tall, and junk-free hill was, he saw that the land spanned for more than two miles. In the center, there was a fire pit and crane with claw-like attachment; a building sat to the left of the pit from where a conveyor belt ran from. Two guesses told him that it was where the dump's many piles of stuff were loaded and then either crushed or chopped into pieces that could be burned. He saw cars, piles upon piles of only the Gods knew, and more than a dozen humans. On a guess, he thought that they were either the area's caretakers or people who were looking for things to take home, clean up, and then sell. After seeing what they got themselves into, he and his brother exited the hill then got busy.

"By the evidence shown to me, and from the witness testimony of the defendant, I declare you four guilty!"

The judge, who presided over the courtroom that he, Bile and Guyunis, and Giovanni were in, had looked plenty upset over saying that. The man, who claimed to be a big fan of their mother's, and saw reason in what happened between them and the Meyer brats, was bound by both law and what was shown to him... which was a pack of lies! Justin and Beatrix Meyer claimed that Bile and he tried to gang up on them, and that Guyunis took the knife that was found at the scene to Justin's throat, and that Giovanni tried to rape Beatrix. The witness in question who came to defend the Meyer's was one of their own; Theobald Vogt, who was one of their cousins, but looked a little better than they, but still had a bad disposition to himself, claimed to of been at the concert, and seen what happened, and tried to get them to stop doing what they were. While he and his brothers, and Giovanni, spoke in their own defense, and while his father showed the memory that he took from Bile's memory, then a document on what Telepathy was, then a hand-written note on his not forging it, the Meyer's had insisted that their story was true and that nothing of what they said or showed could be believed or trusted. Theobald Vogt, who wasn't at the venue, but was very willing to help his family out, was brought in after the memory of what happened was shown. His father, after the verdict was given, had smiled real big before whipping a wand out then saying a spell that made everyone, except for him and his brothers, and Giovanni, blink their eyes then look around in a stupid state.

"Uh, are we doing a case or something? Why are you people here?" the judge asked after the spell was done.

"I'd like to know the latter question myself." Theobald said.

"Think me and my sons, and Mr. Sordi, got ourselves lost. We're looking for a friend who's in the building, and were told to come here. Sorry."

The old man grabbed each of them by the shoulders then ripped them out of the room. Giovanni, after they were of the room, then on their way out of the building, asked what happened; he was given the answer of _I helped you four_ before being told to not mention a word of what he saw to anyone. After leaving the building where their court case was held in, he and his brothers started laughing; they were having a hard time in not exploding after the drive, and then teleportation, home was done. Giovanni, though very confused over what was going on, had laughed with them... as had their father.

"Think of what happened between you and them kids as a bad dream," their father said on August 26, after they got home then situated. "There's no records available on what happened, and the memories of what happened were swiped clean from the fools who tried to make bad of you; just continue life as you always have."

Yessir and boy howdy had they! He and his brothers continued going out with friends, checking out the ladies, buying what they could afford, seeing the movies that they were interested in, and hanging around the areas where they liked to hang out at. On the morning of today, which was August 31, five days after the memories of everyone who was in the courtroom were swiped of what happened on August 19, he decided to ask Lhaklar what he had planned for the day; after hearing that his brother was to "take a stroll in the community center of Durmershiem"—aka, look for a lady to flirt and then have sex with—, he said that he was to drop that plan then follow him to the dump that their brother went to on August 22.

Lhaklar must of been in a good mood because he was very open to doing so. No fuss on his missing out on finding a woman to flirt with, then take somewhere for sex, was made; he just nodded his head then said okay.

"Hey, y'think Lazeer needs anymore dinosaur stuff in his room?" Lhaklar yelled after they were five minutes in on their activity in the dump.

"Knowing him, the answer is a no." Hazaar yelled back. "Same goes for boat and airplane stuff."

"I don't know what this thing is but it's half-skinned; the other half shows the bones and organs."

"He'll like it." Hazaar said after getting the general idea of what his brother found looked like.

While he didn't know the names of most of the dinosaurs that were discovered over the years, he knew the names of the big or more famous ones—like the Tyrannousaur, Triceratops, Velociraptor, Stegosaur, and Pterosaur. There was a box in the pile that he was searching through; when he opened it, he found a slew of dinosaur models in it that were unpainted. One was of a Triceratops-like animal—the horn on the nose was curved down, and it lacked the horns above its head, but it looked like one of them animals so he decided to call it that—while another was of two hatching Tyrannosaurs. The other models he wasn't able to put a name to; seeing as his brother was so into dinosaurs, he might know what they were. He might also enjoy painting and then putting them up in his room.

Lazeer got his interest in dinosaurs after seeing the old re-run of that old, 1999 classic show, Walking With Dinosaurs. He was real little when he saw it; after seeing it, he asked for a copy of it, which their mother got for him. After getting him the set of that show, their mother got him just about everything that was either based on, off, or was similar to it—like The Ballad of Big Al, Walking With Beasts, Chased By Dinosaurs, Walking With Cavemen, Sea Monsters, Walking With Monsters, Dinosaur Planet, Prehistoric Park, and When Dinosaurs Roamed America. Lazeer was just crazy back then for them shows, and about broke his neck to see them when they were put on tv; he also had to have anything that revolved around dinosaurs. While he was a lot more mature about this interest, he still had an interest in it and still built model representations of the animals that use to roam the planet.

In comparison, he wasn't as jumpy or anxious about the programs that he found and then watched as a kid. Instead of having an interest in dinosaurs, or planes or boats, he had an interest in trains and spaceships; whenever a program on one or the other was noticed on the guide of the tv that was in one of their old residences, he'd sit then watch it quietly. His mother did the same with him on the programs that he found and then watched on tv, so he had a good collection of train and spaceship shows in a box somewhere in their underground storage too.

Bile had an interest in bears back when he was a kid, so he was particularly keen on watching anything that revolved around bears. Their mother did the same with him in getting him the programs that he was interested in watching the re-runs of; like with what he watched as a kid, they were all in a box in storage. Lhaklar's box of old vintage car shows was also mom-bought and stored in their underground storage. Guyunis, as a child, had a peculiar interest in wanting to watch nothing but cartoons; their mother bought him a slew of DVD sets on the shows that he liked to watch. They were also in a box in their underground storage.

Their underground storage wasn't available to the humans, nor was it accessible to animals. Only they, with their Elemental powers, could access and then remove the items that were in it. Their father, and Eshal, didn't know about it and, as far as he knew, they'd never know about it. Thanks to their mother working a spell on it, all of the items that were in it wouldn't fall apart with age or grow moldy and, thanks to her habit of making sure that they stored whatever they needed to store in it in a neat and tidy way, everything was neatly arranged. So nothing would get creases, or break, or look like hell when it was decided to retrieve it.

"With Lazeer being the way he is, think this statue is his." Lhaklar, who sounded close-by, said.

"What is it?" he asked. If it was anything cool, or spaceship or train related, Lazeer wouldn't have a chance to receive it.

"It's made of resin, and has a deer on it that's holding a rifle; he nabbed himself a pajama-wearing hunter, who's hanging upside down." Lhaklar replied.

"Most definitely!"

Except for the Nightmare Before Christmas cuckoo clock, Guyunis had no clock in his room to wake him up each morning. The item that he found was right up his adopted brother's alley—it was a motorcycle themed, and had glow-in-the-dark clock hands. After finding it, he set that to the side then dove in deeper before deciding that the pile was empty of anything good. He moved on to the next, which proved to be a better than good idea because he found something right away right after doing so.

The box was made from wood that had a cherry finish to it, and had foam on the inside. The items, that were in it, might interest his father. While he wasn't sure if the man drank or not, he couldn't help but not think that it'd match him and his oftentimes over extravagent ways—the flask was silver-chrome, but had a snakeskin-like cover on it; the shot glass was small, but appropriate for the hidden drink of choice; the multi-tool, which had a corkscrew, bottle opener, and pocketknife in it, fit the piece well, and so did the funnel. After finding this, then setting it to the side, he found something that might suit his sister.

"Don't see why she wouldn't like these." Hazaar thought while putting the six compact mirrors to the side. Even though they were mirrors, and had faux gemstones on them, they didn't resemble one another—one had a fish on it, another had a Peacock on it, another had a chicken or rooster on it, while the other three had flowers, stars, or heart-like designs on them.

The pile was starting to make his nose want to curl up into his face when he found the pair of purple, fuzzy fleece footies. After finding these, he moved on to the next pile; this one had nothing in it worth taking home or selling so he moved on to the next. It took him two more piles before he found a few things for Guyunis's cat, and Bile.

The cat tree also acted as a lounger; along with having a climbing tower on it, it had these three, stick-like things sticking out from it that had dangling toys on them. The scratching post was made out of bamboo, while the two lounge-like platforms, and the tower, were covered in light brown, durable carpet. This thing was nearly three feet tall and two feet wide, so Sabine would more than fit on it. An arch-like thing, that had black bristles on it, and a dark brown carpeted base, was found next; the final thing that he found for the cat was a cat bed that was covered in a material that looked more fitting for a scratching post—it took him just two seconds to realize that it was both.

"She'll be happy with them things." he said to himself after spell-sending his discoveries to the room that came off the basement.

The stand for a knife was found first after he returned to the pile. When he came across its knife, he had to fight himself to not keep it for himself. The blade was red, and was held by a dragon-designed handle that was cooler than cool. While it was a struggle, he decided to give it to his knife-crazy older brother. The next knife that he found was of the throwing variety; it had red and black onyx designs on it and a hollow circle for a pommel. A silver, stainless steel knife was found next; while it was another of them knives that had a dragon-designed handle, it had red inlay in its sheath, which was also stainless steel. Before moving to the next pile, he found a similar knife to the one that he just found—the only difference? It had blue inlay in its sheath.

"Mine! Bile, you shall not claim this from me now or ever!" he said after coming across a set of blue and red, ballistic-style knives in the next pile that he started looking through. The knives were both spring assisted and tacticals; they also had dragon designs on them—but, this time, they were on the handle instead of on the sheath.

When he found the red, silver, and black knife, that had a motorcycle-like handle on it, he decided to give it to Guyunis, who he knew would appreciate it. He was about to move away from the pile that he just started looking through when his eye landed on a cardboard box. Try as he might, he wasn't able to move away from it. When he grabbed it up, then opened it, he smiled broadly—Bile would _love_ the cobalt blue, opal, red onyx red, yellow, and green stone knives, that had stag handles on them, that were in it!

"What... did someone have a throwing out good time with the knives and other knife-like things?" he said after moving to the next pile, then finding a rather cool sword that he was sure a war would be sparked over.

While the handle was long, and normal in all aspects, including being wrapped in black cord, the blade was slightly curvy and a glowing blue color. His face went from being its normal, dark blue color to a lighter blue color after the sword was found, that was how much its blade glowed. Sadly, he found no sheath to go with it... but he did find another sword that he was sure his brother would love.

The blade was made out of a Sawfish bill, and was half-wrapped in light brown leather. The handle, while being wrapped in the same type of leather, had mariner rope on it. The sword was very light-weight, but sharp and interesting to the eye. He shook his head after finding it, then sent it, and the other sword, home.

"Hey! Lhaklar! Be on watch for World War Five—I just found two swords, man!" he yelled.

"Dibs on the front seats!" Lhaklar yelled back.

"Find anything where you're at?" Hazaar asked.

"Yeah. Some Ripley's Believe It Or Not Books, and unopened models."

"For Guyunis?"

"Who else?"

And, believe it or not, one of them unopened models was a bone motorcycle—or, as the box called it, a Bad To The Bone Motorcycle. While Guyunis had never disclosed an interest in the show, or in knowing that it, or anything that was associated with it, existed, he did think that he'd appreciate the things that he found for him. While he knew of the show, and of the many museums that were out there that were owned by Ripley's, he hadn't gotten all that interested in it; Bile had a small interest in the show, but he wasn't crazy about it. He honestly thought that some of the people that were depicted, or shown on the show, or in the museums, were weird—Catman was one of them, as was the man who put more than a thousand clothes pins on his face... the weirdest of them was the man who stuck hooks in his back then rode in a truck for more than a mile while hanging from them.

The polaroid of the Skylad witches, who were wading in water up to their waist, and looked to be completely naked—he could see breasts on two of them while the third's back was to the camera—, was also for Guyunis. His brother needed a few more things in his room that'd show off his sexuality; who better than to "help" him with that than he?

He was a little horny today; due to this, he was planning on keeping the book that was all about the Korea park and museum called Love Land. He was hoping to look at it after getting home from what he and Hazaar were doing. If he was still horny after looking at it, he'd go out to do as he had planned on doing that day, which was find someone to throw a few flirts on and then entertain. While his parents didn't know this, his brothers did—he wasn't a virgin; hadn't been for a while now. Bile and Guyunis were also not virgins and, like him, their parents didn't know this. Even though Hazaar and Lazeer were virgins, and sometimes picked on him and Bile for their antics with the ladies, and sometimes threatened to turn them in for their activities with them, they kept their mouths shut and didn't disclose what they did while out of the house. This was a huge load off his, Bile's, and Guyunis's shoulders—the last thing that they needed was to have their mother chasing after them with a dishcloth, or sending them to the hospital with welts on their backsides after hearing what they did while being away from her gaze and supervision. The same went with the old man.

"Same with Guyunis—even though he knows of what we do while being out of the house, he doesn't speak of it to no one. He can be trusted, like the rest of us." Lhaklar thought.

Last August, after he ran into his closed bedroom door after coming home from work, he decided to tell his brothers what he did for a living. He did the same on when his hours were, and what he did after getting home. So far, none of them had squealed on him for his work hours, or for what he made a living as doing; they were shocked over his getting a full-time job in a club, and with his playing the sneak routine in coming home after his time at the club was done, but they hadn't told a soul on what he did.

Even though he found a bunch of things for Guyunis, and Bile and Hazaar, he had yet to find anything for himself, Eshal, or Lazeer. With the place being as big as it was, and with it being early morning, he had plenty of time to find something for everyone.

"Better to be slow when you look through the heaps of junk that are in a place like this anyways. Don't want to get bit by something that you don't want to get bit by, or miss something that you can take home either." he thought.

He was on his fifteenth pile of junk; since the pile that he was searching was small, and nothing of good value was being found, he moved on to his sixteenth. He found that his luck changed for the better after he did so.

"Mom and Eshal will love these." he said while putting the collection of cookie cutters, the three oddly-shaped cooking sheets, and the two, star-shaped cake pans to the side.

Yes, and his mother would also enjoy the dresses, and the one skirt. One of the dresses, while black on the top, had a layered, red, pink, purple, and orangey-white bottom. Another was both ruched and a golden-yellow color, while the third was a purple tie-dye color. The skirt was a metallic blue color, and was pleated. After finding the dresses and skirt, he set them to the side then dug in deeper. With the pile not choking anything up five minutes later, he moved on; instead of finding another pile to pick, he removed his cigarette case from the inside pocket of his long sleeve, button down, green checkered shirt.

The box that he was taking from his inside shirt pocket was his original one. After having it returned to him, he started using it again; the copper-colored cigarette case, that had an Irish Setter engraved on its front, was no longer being used. While he was the one who bought the silver-aluminum case, Bile was responsible for him having the copper-colored one. After opening the case, he paused for a minute to marvel at its red velvet material, which he put in it himself. After doing this, he took one of the black cigarettes out then stuck it in his mouth. He lit it then walked on; after giving his brother the word on his going into the dump a little deeper, he started in that direction.

While going on his way, he thought about the situation that was going on overseas. While the original three families from the Mokis and Mazon Galaxies were still on the planet, the five families that moved in on the tenth weren't... but that didn't mean that they weren't replaced, though. Almost immediately after the five families, who came from an unspecified galaxy, left the planet, five more came in to take their place. Master Vile, his November attacker, who he'd never regard as a grandfather, was said to be "slighty" frustrated over the constant "door swinging" that was going on with people coming in, settling down, then up and leaving after finding themselves as not being able to cope with the constant discrimination that was being thrown at them. The man was also frustrated over them people not taking up residence in the homes that were specifically built for them—one of the new families settled in New York, yes, but not in the city; another settled in Ohio, while two more settled in California. The fifth was said to be living in or around Virginia. A news report last night said that the man who "ruled" North and South America had decided to open the settlements that were created for the colonists of other realms to the original people of the Americas; the people who use to live in them neighborhoods were overjoyed in hearing this, but were said to be horrified with what they found after moving back into them. The people in the neighborhoods that were bulldozed and then rebuilt from scratch were having a time in establishing themselves, and in figuring out how to live in their new, but strangely built, homes.

It was to be expected that the people of the Americas would still target the people from the realms that moved into the areas where they use to inhabit after they were reopened for their occupantion; things between the Americas and the "aliens" who moved in among them were said to not be good or pleasant.

"Where'd these new people come from?" he remembered Hazaar asking yesterday, after seeing the news report on what was going on with the five, newly arrived families that settled in North America.

"According to what I've seen, two are from the Baladeros Galaxy. The third is from the Vela Libre System; the fourth and fifth are said to come from the ID-464 Galaxy." their father replied.

"Aren't them galaxies under war or something-k?" Guyunis asked. "Abou-k-t three hundred and ninety years ago, think I heard something about how a war of some kind was takin-k-g place on Baladeros."

"And it's still going on. The Vela Libre System is experiencing a bit of a medical crisis, while most of the planets in the ID-464 Galaxy are falling apart." their father replied.

"Looks like Earth's to be made into a sort of come hither for your safety type of planet." he said.

"With what's going on overseas, I don't see that happening anytime soon." Hazaar said.

"People are coming here for that reason, Lhaklar; as Hazaar just said, they're leaving because they're not finding the refuge that they thought they would. My nephew's really let a lot of people down... Me and his parents included." their father replied.

While all of them had experienced their share of discrimination over their looks, Bile was really the one who received more than his fair share of prejudice and hate-throwing. Thanks to his being the son of Vile Vile, aka Master Vile, the humans saw him as someone who was automatically evil; they also saw him as being the follower of his father, which was very far from the truth. Bile loathed his father, and would never follow in his footsteps. Sure, he had a temper, and sometimes needed all of them to bring him down to knees whenever he went overboard in his work-out regiments, but he wasn't evil. This was clearly evidenced in his education—while doing the standard two hundred years at Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, and taking the beginner classes for evil-doing in that school, he hadn't received any further education for being or acting evil and he had no intention of doing so. The same went with them—Pronghorn Academy of Sorcery and Magic, and the University of Telepathy, was what was on his, Hazaar's, and Lazeer's educational résumé and they had no intention of adding anymore educational facilities to that list; as far as he knew, Guyunis, who had Pronghorn and Goboshu's Academy of Meanness on his educational résumé, felt the same way.

A few years ago, when he and his brothers, sans Guyunis, who was sadly left behind on Earth, were on Moas, and living under their father's mansion's roof, they told him how they had no desire to be evil. If the subject of their resuming school, to be evil and then creeping into other worlds and destroying them just to add "territory" to their name and make a name for themselves, they'd be fast on reminding the man of what they said and on their intentions to remain as they were. The end of the Universe wouldn't happen if they, the sons of a member of a prominent family, didn't become evil then follow in their famous old man's footsteps by turning other people's lives upside down.

"While I doubt if she'd be able to produce one who wants to be evil, or do as dad does, mom and dad can have other kids and then teach them how to be evil and conquer worlds that aren't theirs." he thought before rounding a corner then having a mini-heart attack.

After rounding the corner, he found himself as being in a small clearing that a bulldozer was in. The clearing had a human in it—it was of the male gender, and had red-orange hair and very blue eyes. This man was manning the bulldozer; he stopped what he was doing then quickly climbed down from his machine after seeing him. While he had a limp to him, he was fast in approaching him.

"Mint green skin, pistachio-colored eyes, looks like one of them Gray aliens... taking a gamble at this, but I'm willing to bet that you're one of the sons of my planet's protector." the man said.

"Yes," he returned.

"Which one?"

"Lhaklar—the secondborn."

"Pleased to meet you now what're you doing in a place like this?" the man asked.

"Checking out the piles for stuff that may be useful at home." Lhaklar answered.

"Good thing to do on days like today." the human said before turning to go back to his bulldozer. "Stick near the front and sides. The stuff that you're looking for is more in them piles than in the ones that're past me and my 'dozer."

"Thank you."

"Have a good day."

"You too."

Now that was a pleasant encounter; there were no pick-ons, or his being told to scram, or physical brawls where blood was spilled or bruises were a sure thing to happen in the imminent future. The human just walked up, acknowledged him, asked him a few questions, then told him where the best things were and then to have a good day. He bet the "alien" families in the Americas wished they were here instead of where they were—the humans on this side of the planet, while quicker to publish things in the papers, or put things on the news, seemed to be a better crowd. Since moving here, he had only experienced two to three negative encounters; the same with Hazaar and Lazeer. Bile had experienced a few more negative encounters than he and his full-brothers while Guyunis had just experienced two. If they were in the Americas right now, they'd probably experience or have experienced double to nearly triple that.

After speaking with the human, he finished his cigarette then went to where two, rather tall piles of junk were. While it took him a while to find something, it didn't take him long to find something for some of the people in his family.

"Eshal has an interest in them small, jewelry boxes? Well, I just found her enough to gloat over."

One looked like an ice cream sundae. Corny, but pretty; he was sure that his sister would like it. Another looked like one of them Fabergé eggs, while another was of a beaver. Here were a few sea shell-designed boxes, and here were three other boxes. One was of a lion, while the second was a turtle and the third a pig. The rest of the boxes looked of the Geode type, which were suppose to look like just dug-up crystals, or crystals that were hidden in specific rocks that were found deep underground.

Even though he didn't need to find anything else for Guyunis or Lazeer, he still found a few things in the pile that he thought they'd like. The first few items that he found after coming across the jewelry boxes he decided were for Guyunis. One was of the animal that was frequently associated with the Egyptian diety, Set; it was a small, bronze or copper-made statue. The other he contemplated long and hard on before deciding to give it to his brother. While Guyunis didn't seem to have all that big an interest in dolls—he merely looked at the ones that Lazeer gave Eshal on the twenty-secondth; his interest in the teddy bear, that Bile had, was minimal, but present—, he thought that he might like the doll that he found in the pile that he was searching through. While the base-color was between baby blue and medium blue, it had all sorts of cuts and injuries to it... and it also looked like it was cut open from the chest on down to the stomach and then sewn back up. After finding this, he found two Hellboy models—one was of the Tooth Fairy while the other was of the Angel of Death.

While his parents let Lazeer keep his new pets, they told him to not bring anymore animals home. No one needed to ask them why they said this; they just accepted it then went on with their lives. Lazeer, while taking good care of his pets these last several days, had done more than enough "damage" to their mother and sister with his remote control tarantula and salamander. The creep didn't seem to know when to quit; he even sicked his tarantula on their father, who came very close to stepping on it after thinking that it was the real meccoy.

The statues, that he found, were small and right up his frog-loving baby brother's alley. One was of a frog that was doing a hand-stand, while another was of a fat bullfrog; the third was chinese-made. The fourth one, along with being brass carved, was of a toad that was sitting on a "cache" of coins.

After finding them items, he set his sights on looking for something for his father, and a few more things for Eshal.

"Well, before I and my brothers were removed from Moas and then relocated to Earth, she had a good interest in stuffed animal toys... If she's lost that interest, I can sell these to someone who has young children who might appreciate them." he said twenty minutes later, after finding a menagerie of stuff for his family in the ten piles of stuff that he just got through searching.

The stuffed toys—a skunk, fox, sad-ass cat, jumbo-sized tiger, a rather realistic wolf cub, and something that he wanted to call an Aye-Aye—were put to the side. After finding the final toy, he said the spell that'd make all of what he found become invisible and then follow him to wherever he went; this spell was dropped after he decided to call it a day.

It was only at the last possible second that he found something for his father. The man, who had a thing for bats and Platypuses, and owned them animals as pets, was probably going to be tickled pink after he saw what he found for him. The first four items that he came across were bat-related; they were also taxidermied and framed. The first was of an Orange Fire or Painted bat, while the second was of a super-dried Pipistrellus. The third was of a hairless bat, and the fourth was of a freeze-dried Brazilian free-tailed bat.

A sculpture of more than two Platypuses was found, as was this very realistic Platypus stuffed toy. A set of utenzils that had Platypuses on them were the final items that he found for his father... they were also the final things that he found before deciding to stop what he was doing.

"Hey! Hazaar! Head's up, I'm leaving and going home. Found more than enough to keep everyone happy." he said after taking his communicator from the pocket of his deep brown corduroy pants then bringing it to his lips.

"Good to hear. Heading home myself—dad called; he saw the swords and is about ready to burst at the seams about them." Hazaar's reply came nearly two minutes later.

"Good timing!" he thought before teleporting home.


	26. Chapter 26

"They're a little dull, and rusty, but they'll last."

A little dull, and rusty, was far from what they were. While he was able to see them on that day that happened last September, he wasn't able to take all that grand a look at them. The sky was overcast, and the shop wasn't all that well lit, and he was a bit blindsided by his excitement over seeing them to take notice of their many flaws. Mr. Bonnaire was doing only as a salesman would in enticing him with pretty words so he'd buy them; after getting the license that showed him as being a citizen of Germany, then going back to the shop for the claw-shaped knuckle dusters, then seeing them for what they really were, he should of shook his head then voiced his disinterest in them. Instead, he bought them, and the two knives and pair of brass knuckles, then went home.

The six-inch blades, he thought while on the way home, could be cleaned to look like new. He could also use one of them knife sharpening kits, or stones, on them to work their dullness away. He spell-sent his purchases home, then went home himself, then felt himself compelled to dive into his curiosity over his new dusters. While he stashed the knives and brass knuckles in one of his dresser drawers, he donned the dusters; they damn near fell apart on him while he did so.

The leather gloves were found to be very badly cracked and dry on the inside. Some of the blades were found to be loose on the part that they went into. The bands, that went around the arm right under the elbow, were found to be slit. And one of the light-weight bars, that connected the glove and its attached blades to the arm-worn bands, was broken in the middle. Along with knowing that they were homemade, he knew that he'd not be able to sanely display them in his room, so he put them in a box, which was then stored in his closet. After seeing the state of his dusters, he checked the other items that he bought for issues that he hadn't noticed before buying them—quite relievedly, the skull and crossbones knife, that had a knuckled guard, and the spiked knuckle knife, and the pair of brass knuckles were all in good shape; all of the items that he bought for his brother were in fine shape while the ones that he bought for him, and that got his attention, weren't. He was blue over this for all of twenty minutes before the idea of going to one of them arts and crafts stores, and then a hardware store, came to him. He could repair the dusters himself, then clean and sharpen the blades, then put them up in his room.

"Course, was never able to do that." Lhaklar thought while taking the chair to the dining room table out from where it was then setting everything that he had in his arms down on the table. "Too much shit going on last year for me to make the trip to them stores, or fix my dusters up."

Now that things looked to be a little more mellow, he decided to go on and get his dusters a stand to be displayed on and then the stuff to both clean and repair them with. Once he sat before the item that he was about to perform a sort of surgery on, he got to work; the first thing that he did was use the slotted screwdriver to remove the base from the gloves. He then removed the blades that were still attached to them. Seeing as the gloves were so badly maintained, he threw them away then took the new pair up from where they were. Before applying the glue to the back of the two bases, he cleaned, then buffed, them well; a small squirt of E-6000, which was the only glue out there that could be applied to both metal and fabric surfaces, was put on the back of the bases then the bases were put to the side until the glue became tacky. Once the glue was tacky, he flipped the bases over then pressed them to the backs of the gloves.

Once the bases were on the gloves, he grabbed one of the blades then went to work in cleaning it with the solution, which was nothing more than nail polish. He did this in turn, so to let each blade dry before going on to use the 3-in-One oil on them. He was just gearing up to put the first blade on one of the bases when the chair across from him was pulled out from under the table; his father, while slow in sitting down, wasn't slow in acknowledging him, or what he was doing.

"Take it that you have a big interest in these handheld melee weapons?" his father asked.

"Only if they look fitting to me." he replied.

Going by feeling alone, he knew that the eyes, that, except for being silver, looked so like his own, were looking down at what he was trying to put together. He continued working on his dusters, regardless of his father's presence and of the nervousness that he brought along with him. It was very important that he keep his eyes on where his hands went on the blades and that he see where they were suppose to go on the bases—he didn't want to screw up his dusters, or cause himself to bleed and then his father to flip out on him being cut.

While he wasn't a big fan of them large, handheld melee weapons, like swords, spears, axes, and knives, he was a fan of the type of weapon that one could wear on their hands and that looked like fingernails or claws. About two years ago, he became a Freshman owner of one of them types of weapons that looked like what Freddy Krueger would wear; sadly, they were no longer in his possession. They were confiscated, one by one, and then put in his father's weapons room. The weapons that he was currently working on looked like what the Wolverine would wear; he was to try his damnedest to keep them in his possession for a while.

While he watched the movies, and knew the characters well, he wasn't obsessed over Freddy Krueger or the Wolverine. He did think that they had good weapons on them, though. In his mind, the weapon that he use to own, and the weapons that he currently owned, were just as good as them; they were easy to wield, were light-weight, and there was nothing to hinder the one who used them from using them.

"Use them yet?" his father asked.

"No. Haven't had reason to." he answered.

His old weapon, which was a set of finger knives, was bought on the planet Viro. Once he and his mother were home from their trip to the planet, he hid them in a Cigar box then put them under the ground, right before the first step of the porch that went to his family's old residence. While he didn't have an intention to use them, he found himself as doing so one day; after the phone lines went down, and he and his brothers decided to go to their mother's old workplace to see if she was okay, they found that she was both surrounded by people that they didn't know, or remember, and that one of them had his hand on her. Trobrencus, who started fighting Bile right after they arrived to the Food Lion, and Bahne, who he warned to stay away from him after noting that she was coming towards him, probably still had the marks from his knives on them.

He used them on his father too. The man, along with entering his family's old abode illegally, had taken all of their material possessions and then waited for him and his family to come home so he could abduct and then take them to Moas. If he recalled correctly, he used them on him more than once.

"Think I used them on a Goblin or two too." he thought after the first blade was in place.

"Where'd you get them?" his father asked.

"From the pawnshop in town." he replied.

"The same one that you bought the guitar, and the two guns, from?" the man asked.

"Uh-huh."

He and Hazaar came home from the dump about four hours ago. Along with doing their now-usual in taking a shower after returning from a trip to the dump, they cleaned all of what they found then gave it out. Everyone was more than happy to see and then receive what they found—Eshal especially so! Hazaar found her another of them poseable dolls, but this one wasn't a representation of one of the planet's known ape species, or was anatomically correct. It did resemble a real baby, though. It had soft, brown hair, blue eyes, and life-like wrinkles on its feet; it was wearing a polka-dot outfit that had a pink bib on it that said Daddy's Little Girl on the front. It wasn't until after Eshal received it that it was noticed that the bib was reversible, and that it had Mommy's Little Girl on the back.

All of the stuffed animals that they found were given a round in the washing machine. After being removed from that appliance, they were hand-dried then given to their sister; it looked like Eshal still had an interest in them, and it looked like she enjoyed the priviledge of getting them too. She liked the other items that she received too.

He and his brothers acted happy and excited about what was found for them too, but they were more mature than Eshal over what was given to them. Their father was more than a little ecstatic over what was found for him; as expected, World War Five did happen after the two swords were brought out.

While their father wasn't as interested in the Sawfish sword, he was interested in the other one. Bile and he "fought" over it for nearly an hour before it was suggested that a sort of "reimbursement" be given to both the one who found it and the one who wanted it—€45 was given to Hazaar while Bile was promised the next sword that was found in the next dump that was picked. Bile was able to keep the other sword; there was just not enough squabbling available to worry about who got it.

"What happened to the guns that I bought and then transferred to you?" Lhaklar asked his father.

"Spell-sent home. They're in my weapons room; all propped up and ready for the ever-wondering eyes of my visitors to see." his father replied.

"Take it that the bat-related things, that I gave you, got the same treatment?"

"Yes, as did the Platypus items."

"And the flask kit that Hazaar found and then gave to you?"

"Sent home, where it'll stay for a while."

It was a shock to all of them that the old man didn't seem all that interested in the flask kit that Hazaar found for him at the dump. The man, while appreciative towards the gesture of his second youngest son finding it for him, had disclosed an interest in either selling it to a friend of his or keeping it in his possession until someone who had an interest in it showed up. Hazaar, while upset over this, wasn't upset for long—he found a few other things that did gain the old man's attention, and that he was very keen on saying he was keeping.

One of the items that he found was a perfectly preserved, but wet, bat. It was in a globe that had a very dark metal base on it. Another was of this preserved bat that was both hanging upside down and on a metal chain—as strange as it was, it was a necklace of sorts. The next item that was given over, and that was kept, was of this odd and alien-looking winged creature that was in this small mason jar. The final item that was kept was a long, dark brown wool and cashmir coat—it did look up their father's alley, so there was no surprise on his end that he'd like it.

"Any "spiders" come creeping your way since me and Hazaar, and Bile, were away from the roost?" he asked.

"Funny, son." his father returned.

He finished the repairing of his weapons then slid them across the table, so his father, who looked to be very interested in them, could see them up close. Once his weapons were looked over, then returned to him, he picked them up then excused himself. He went up to his room, where he spent the next two hours in.

He looked at the book that Hazaar gave to him on Christmas, then at the one that was about Korea's Love Land park, then listened to some music. He was about to switch CDs when the horn of his mother' car was heard. Seeing as he had nothing better to do—other than go down to say hello to his mother, and try to rein in his horniness, of course—, he left his room then went straight to Guyunis's.

After entering his brother's room, he stopped short then fought to not smile. Most of what was found for Guyunis was on his bed; Guyunis was looking it over while also trying to keep an eye on his cat, who was having a blast in going from one of the things that were found for her to the next. Instead of making his brother jump by just speaking without knocking and then making his presence known, he knocked then cleared his throat.

"Hmmm, wonder what it'll be that you'll crack open and then have fun with first." he said after clearing his throat.

"Question tha-k-t I want to know too." Guyunis returned.

"If I were you, I'd make that polariod become a small poster." Lhaklar winked his left eye.

"I'll probably to that." Guyunis said. He then pointed at his cat. "Sabine says thank you for wha-k-t was found for her."

"Don't be saying your thanks to me on what was found for her. It wasn't me that found it." Lhaklar said.

"I know, bu-k-t, still, thanks."

"Welcome."

An activity that he thought was odd began right after he entered the room. Guyunis put the model of the Bone To The Bone motorcycle to the side, then he put the other models that he was given in a neat stack beside it. After doing this, his brother made a pile before them of the other stuff that he was given. It took him a while to realize that his brother was organizing all of what he was given.

The four Ripley's Believe It Or Not books had fine covers on them that moved whenever one moved them; he found that as being rather cool. Hazaar managed to find two books on motorcycles for their brother; he also found him a few knives, and two pairs of boots. The motorcycle alarm clock, that was also found, was another thing that Hazaar came across—Guyunis was more than happy to receive that!

In all, Guyunis had seven models on his bed—the one of a rather bloody, and near-naked, female vampire, and the one of Halle Berry as the Catwoman, were found by Hazaar while the rest were found by him. He was honestly looking forward to when his brother started putting them together, and when he started putting them on one of his shelves.

Sometime after last year's Christmas, Guyunis did a little rearranging and decorating in his room. Most everything on the walls was taken down and everything on his bookcase was removed from where it was and then either cleaned and returned to their former places or given new homes. No one really knew where the shelves came from. They were put on the walls just before Guyunis dived into the first of his Christmas-received models. Rather surprisingly, Guyunis sold the Tibetan rug that he found in one of Colorado's many dumps last year—with it looking to be a rather expensive rug, maybe it was where their brother came up with the dough for his shelves?

It was nice to see that his brother's room was more lived-in. It was also nice to see that the chicken poster, and the cuckoo clock, were back up; a few weeks ago, Guyunis took them down. The clock was noted as not working, and needed a maintenance check before being put back on the wall that it was on, and the poster needed a piece of cardboard behind it to make it not so flimsy. The poster was back to being behind his brother's bedroom door, while the clock was sitting rather cozy-like beside the room's one window. When the poster was removed from where it was, it was his wish and hope that it'd be put on another of the room's walls, so not to be overlooked by anyone who came in. Sadly, that never happened.

He hoped that, when the move from the planet was done, his brother would be allowed to keep all of what he owned and be able to display it in the room that he was given. Now that Guyunis and the old man were getting along, and were talking to one another, and now that Guyunis was nearly back to sitting in his old chair at the table, he was starting to wonder where his room at the mansion would be. Would it be across from his, or Bile's, or would it be down the hall from them? Would Guyunis get the priviledge of having the room beside his own be connected to his and then be converted into a display place for his hunting trophies and models? Would Guyunis's room be on the same level as his and his brothers'? If he recalled correctly, his and his brothers' rooms, and Eshal's room, were all on the second level; he hoped that Guyunis wasn't given a room away from theirs and that he'd be treated as an equal to them after the move was made. It'd be a dirty shame if the old man went and started treating him as second best, or as someone who didn't matter... and it'd be infuriating too.

Guyunis was one of them, and he deserved the same treatment as them. He was their brother, not someone who needed to be swept to the side, or only thought of when certain events came around, or when he was brought up by someone in the house.

"Think I need to go down to the basement for a bi-k-t." Guyunis said. He turned from the now neatly organized pile that was on his bed then started towards him. "Need some board for that polariod, and there's some down there now tha-k-t I can use."

"Want me to blow it up to being like a small poster?" he asked.

"Sure. Keep an eye on Sabine while you do that, okay? She's a bit crazy righ-k-t now."

"Will do."

Unbeknown to his bruder, who was thinking that it'd be the motorcycle model that he'd build first, it wasn't that model that he wanted to break open, build, and then display in his room. It was the one of the Kayan woman, who had brass rings around her neck that made her neck stretch up to eleven inches, that he was more interested in doing. If his model paint and glue supplies hung in there, he'd do the bone motorcycle, and then the model of the man who had the real long fingernails, next. With his having as many unopened models as he did, he might not get any next month or the following one.

While he liked all of the things that were found and then given to him, it was the mutilated doll that he found himself as not having all that much pull towards. He wasn't a doll-man, nor did he like dolls. Dolls were for girlies; the stuffed bear that Bile had wasn't a doll, and didn't look girlie-approved, so Bile was safe on account of that. The doll, while cool, and non-girlie, was still a doll. He'd have to speak to Lhaklar on it because, honestly, he saw no reason to keep it, or display it in his room. If his bruder wanted it, he'd let him have it and, if not, he'd speak with Bile on it before making the decision to go to the place where he knew dolls were sold and then sell it to the person who ran it.

With what was found for him at the latest dump that his bruders searched, he might need to get another shelf put up in his room. He didn't want his already present shelves to get overloaded with models, or just build and then store the models that his bruders found for him somewhere in his closet. Seeing as he and his family were slated to be removed from the planet in November by the man who continued to call him 'son', he might need to approach him on getting some shelves or something put up in the space where he was to sleep and half-so live in soon.

He wasn't stupid by any means. He knew very well that his family were to be relocated to some planet called Moas; unlike the previous few months, where he was against it, he was looking forward to when it happened. He was curious about the planet, and the residence that he was to be moved into, and he was halfway hoping for the time to go by a little quicker so he could see what was in store for him. According to the man who was his mutter's husband, he had a big place that was situated on a large plot of land; after the move was made, would he be allowed to be the "son" of his mutter, or be looked at as a butler or servant in that big house? Would he be given a closet-space to sleep and live in, or a room that was as big as his bruders' own? Would he have to take his meals in secret, or be allowed to take them in while having his family around him? Would he be allowed to sleep on an actual bed, or on the cold, hard floor? Would he—

"Stop!" he told himself. "Tha-k-t man doesn't seem the type to do that to anyone."

"People change, remember that." the voice inside him, which he hadn't heard for a while now, said to him.

"Maybe he won't." he said. "Maybe he's a good man, and won-k-t do as everyone else that's loaded with dough has with me."

"Nadja and Leon sure started out nice only to turn sour in a heartbeat. So did their daughter, remember?"

"Mum wouldn't le-k-t him treat me like a slave or servant either. I'm sure of tha-k-t."

"Are you? Money changes people, and you're to be moved into the home of a rich person soon... a rich person who might just turn your mutter, and bruders, against you."

"Stop! Just stop."

The voice that he heard had tormented him for weeks after he found his family's former apartment as being empty. In a way, it was the only company that he had in the two months that he spent on his own. It was also the only sense of comfort that he got in that time too. This voice stopped being heard after his mutter came to claim him. The dreams that took its place, while scary to both him and his mutter, who he woke up on the nights that he had them, were annoying but he managed to overcome them. They had yet to make a return; why had the voice returned? The last time he heard this voice was on the twenty-secondth; the day after the man who was his mutter's husband called him 'son'.

He didn't want to hear this voice, or experience the dreams again; he wanted to go on with life as he knew it, and be happy while experiencing it.

With a considerable amount of effort, he silenced the voice then went down the stairs. He went to the basement—an area in a residence where he use to find himself as staying in during his containment periods, where he wasn't needed to do any chores by the members of his former adoption families—then did as he needed to do in finding one of the available cardboard boxes and then cutting a piece of it that'd fit the polariod that Lhaklar had probably already blown to being the size of a small poster by now. After the poster-cut was made, he went back to the main portion of the house.

While his trip across the kitchen was unmarred, the one across the dining room was. His mutter and her husband were speaking in the living room; it sounded like they were talking about him, and about some company that his mutter was halfway willing to let come over. After hearing them, he stopped then stood by the window that looked in on the living room, just out of sight of his parent and her spouse. He started listening to them as they spoke to one another.

"Don't you think it's a bit soon? You and he just got in with one another; I'd hate to see any progress that you've made with him be dropped after another party comes in." his mutter was saying.

"He's going to have to get use to him one of these days, Angel." his mutter's husband returned.

"Don't do as you did two years ago, Tazir. Too much on his plate is not good. For both him, me, and his brothers. Eshal too."

"How's one person adding too much on his plate?" the man, who sounded a bit annoyed, asked. "Angel, I'm not throwing out invitations, or calling everyone then saying for them to rush over here. I know better now than to do that."

"And yet you want to bring him here."

"Nine days ago, you seemed very for this happening."

"And, with what was exhibited in him on the twenty-first and twenty-secondth, I decided to not be like that."

"Angel!"

"Don't start it, Tazir. Guyunis has gone through a lot over the years; to allow for people in the family to come over could spell trouble, and not just for him either."

His mutter went on. Saying how changed he and his bruders became after Mr. Surfeit and his daughter moved in, and how long it took them to get use to them and then make a return to how they lived their lives. She went on about the challenges that he and his bruders had to face with the man who was her husband when he decided to go to Jerk Town on them, then with their sister, who decided to turn on them.

His hand reached up to touch the chain that was wrapped around his neck. This act of his, which he very nearly stopped doing a couple of months ago, returned after the man and his daughter moved into the house; he had yet to stop it. While his old chains, which came from the Meyer's attic, were no longer around, he had managed to find a few lengths behind a building; after finding them, he took them up then started wearing them. He knew that his mutter didn't like his use of them but he wasn't able to stop the habit; according to his bruders, they looked cool on him while, with him, their use was a lot more dense than that. While he knew they were cool on him, and brought out his image, he also knew that they served the purpose of his remembering his past.

While he tried to take them off a few times over the months that his mutter had him, he hadn't been able to do so. Maybe he'd be able to do that one day but, right now, not now.

He was about to move past the window, and go back up to his room, when his mutter and her husband resumed what they were speaking about. His blood ran cold when he heard this next part of the conversation.

"I don't know, Tazir. I just think it's not the right time to do this." his mutter said.

"Angel, you know Cheshire well. He'll not hurt a hair on any of them boys, Guyunis included." the man said.

"Yeah, but—"

"He wants to see and spend a little time with his grandchildren, Angel. Guyunis included—not sure if you know or not but the man's been speaking of Guyunis like he's a grandchild of his. He's also very open to calling him his grandson and he won't stop, even though I've cautioned him on it."

"If the others found out—"

"They won't."

"How do you know that? With your nephew in the Americas, his parents are probably constantly on the horn with him and might well find out that he's here... or you might slip up in telling them... or they'll hear him in the background then make the automatic decision to come over and create trouble. This place isn't as big as the mansion—it can't fit my grandfather and his family, my great-grandfather and his family, Trobrencus and his family, or the rest of the Surfeit and Ubalki clans."

"Do you trust me?"

"..."

"Angel, listen, even if they found out by some means that he's here, they won't be allowed to come in to bother anyone. I'll be sure to tell them something if they found out that he's here. No one from my father's side of the family will be coming over to play visit, or to hold the place up for a while, and the same goes for anyone else on my mother's side of the family. You can trust me on keeping things low, slow, and content for both you and the boys. I give you my undying promise to look after all of you, and to keep things to a down-low when he's here."

"I don't know, Tazir." there was a pause before his mutter said something that made him run past the window then up to his room, where he'd simply stay in for the next few hours, worrying half to death about what may or may not happen in the impeding few weeks and months to come. "Let me think on it, okay? I'll give you my answer on his coming over in the next few days."


	27. Part 3

From the Zeta Ren _Trybunel_ , September 4, 4101 (Page 1)

Flags Fly Amid Disaster In Privately Owned Mine

While the threat of flash floods, fires and explosions, and chemical inhalation are a definite cause for concern to one who mines, the one that reins supreme for many is cave ins. For one of Zeta Ren's top miners, who's a steady supplier of Gold Glass, the most fashionable, valuable, and rare natural substance in the Universe, the latter concern became reality yesterday, when the ceiling of one of his newly purchased and broken into mines collapsed on an estimated twenty-two people.

"The second I learned of what happened, I rushed to the mine then began work in trying to find an area that could be safely penetrated and then entered. Efforts began almost immediately after the cave-in occurred for the safe removal of all that were still inside." Cheshire Keueitt Ubalki, the owner of the mine that collapsed at exactly 8:30 a.m., said when questioned on the efforts to retrieve the trapped workers.

When questioned on how his mine was maintained, Mr. Ubalki said that he and the ones who worked for him went by what was listed on Document 12 of the Mining Act. The act states that no one is to enter a mine that's wished to be explored until after its been secure from both the inside and outside. Six sturdy boards are suppose to be applied before the two chosen entrances, while the ceiling and walls are suppose to have more than twelve before them. It's said that, at the time of the mine's collapse, two boards, that were holding the ceiling up, were noted as sagging; an attempt to replace them was being done when the mine collapsed on most who were inside.

It wasn't until the mine's overseer was approached, and then questioned on what happened, that the flags started being flown on Mr. Ubalki's claim. According to the overseer, his employer requested for six boards to be applied to the mine's interior walls and ceiling and that the entrances were to have only four before them. When one went to check into this claim, it was discovered to be accurate, which put Mr. Ubalki's statement in check. Following this discovery, it was learned that Mr. Ubalki employed an excessive amount of people to work the mine and didn't equip half of them with the necessary equipment that one needs while working underground.

"The general rule is that only one person per mile there is to an underground mine is allowed inside to work. Mr. Ubalki's mine runs a length of nearly fourteen miles, which means that only thirteen people should of been in it." Glaarilem Aracks, a spokesman for the Zeta Ren Miner's Guild, said three hours after it was learned on how many there were in the mine.

There were a total of thirty people in the mine, which is over double the number allowed. Of the thirty that were in it, only eight were seen as leaving the side entrance, which means that the bulk of the ones who were in it are still inside. When approached on the overseer's claim, then presented the findings of what was discovered when it was investigated, Mr. Ubalki had nothing to say.

"We're working as stealthily as we can to get everyone that's still in the mine out." Cheshire Ubalki said before going quiet on the situation.

It's being reported that, with it heading past the twenty-four hour mark since the ceiling's collapse, the families of the trapped are still waiting for their trapped relatives to be seen as emerging from the tunnel that they went into. While activity is great around the mine's two entrances, some are beginning to wonder if the efforts being enforced to get the trapped from it are fast enough.

From the Zeta Ren _Trybunel_ , September 6, 4101 (Page 1)

Overseer Pins Blame On Employer For Mine's Collapse

For the ones who decided to set-up camp near Mr. Ubalki's privately owned mine, the thing that they were both hoping and not hoping to see occurred when some of the people that were trapped were evicted from their entrapment space. While the jubiliant cheer was loud, the screams of horror, and wails of anguish, were louder—of the eleven souls that left the mine, only six were on foot; the rest were on stretchers. Of the ones on stretchers, two were seriously injured while three were deceased.

"What happened wouldn't of happened if Mr. Ubalki noticed the weather that was forecast for September 1 and 2." the overseer, who wishes to be anonymous, said after some of the trapped workers were freed from the mine. "Even after I sent him a report on how conditions were with the mine, he insisted on work being done on it. I knew something like this was going to happen after receiving word from him on the mine to be worked on, and tried to pursuade him into canceling the day's shift—he wouldn't hear any of it."

While it took a while, word was received from two of the men that were freed today. What the men, who have also expressed a wish to remain anonymous, have said has confirmed some of what the overseer has said.

"Heavy rainfall happened the night before we came to work. The area around the mine was saturated, and so was the mine's interior. Most of us didn't want to go in but, with hungry mouths to feed, and bills to pay, we had to; we no more started working when the ceiling collapsed." one of the men said.

"It was much like a Domino Effect—once someone noticed, and then went to replace them two boards, they came down. The ones that were around and before them also fell, as did the ones that were holding the sides in-check." the other man said.

With Mr. Ubalki already being cited for how improperly secure his mine was, and for not providing adequate equipment to his workers, the three men's words have added yet another strike against him. According to the protocols in Document 12 of the Mining Act, and the guidelines in subsequent documents in the act, no one is suppose to enter a mine after any type of rainfall occurs. When work resumes in an area where a mine is present, it's done two to three days after everything's dried up and then tested for stability. Mr. Ubalki, who owns the most concentrative mines in the Universe that put out Gold Glass, didn't do that. A check on the weather before the mine's ceiling collapsed shows that a substantial rainfall occurred on not only September 2 but also during the previous evening, which should of caused the mine to be closed down for nearly a week before re-entry and then resumed work ensues. Mr. Ubalki, instead of closing his mine down, and sending one of the specially trained dogs in to see if it was truly stable for work to be resumed in it, just said for his staff to go in with no regard to the guidelines that have been in effect for nearly fifty-two thousand years.

Investigators, who came in two days ago following the contradictory nature of Mr. Ubalki's claims, searched all of the buildings that lie on the mine's grounds. During the search in one of the mine's two outposts, they found two items that give a further strike to the mine's owner. According to Mr. Ubalki, who's been very talkative to both newspaper and news channel reporters, he had constant contact with his overseer, was on the mine's grounds before the rains came into its area, and had everything properly inspected before ground was broken—the items that were found show that he hasn't visited the mine in over two weeks, hasn't spoken with his overseer in nearly a week, and hasn't had a proper inspection of the mine's electronic equipment done in nearly a month.

"I did follow with protocol, and will admit to not following the guidelines—but only because I was given insufficient data by the man who was employed to give me feedback on what's going on around the area that the mine's in and with the weather that's being experienced in it. If I had known about how much rain fell on the first and secondth, I never would of sent anyone down to work that mine." Cheshire Ubalki said when asked about the contradictory nature of his comments and the ones made by his overseer.

Efforts are now more than doubled to get the remaining people who are unaccounted for from the mine.

From the Zeta Ren _Trybunel_ , September 10, 4101 (Page 1)

Dispute Between Overseer and Mine Owner Causes Many To Shake Their Heads

From the Zeta Ren _Trybunel_ , September 16, 4101 (Page 1)

Mine Owner Being Sued By Families Of Deceased Miners

"Of all the things that don't need to happen right now..." Efagti Izorot Ubalki said while stuffing the articles from the September 10 and yesterday's newspapers in his wallet then going to retrieve his just-packed suitcase and duffel bag from his bedroom floor.

Even though he was a big fan of the _Trybunel_ , he wasn't a fan of what was being written and then put in its columns these past several days. The same went with what was being aired on the news each evening. It seemed that each time he turned a tv on, then went to see what was going on in his neck of the woods, he'd see a news clip or report being aired on what was going on with his father's mine. The news outlets were overdoing it; thanks to their blasphemous words, they were causing a lot of backlash to occur towards his father.

Everyone was pointing fingers, and creating trouble, for the wrong person. While his father owned the mine, and was the one who gave the green-light for it to be worked on September 3, it wasn't he who was responsible for what happened. It was two things that was cause for what happened; while one of them could be pinned on his father, the other couldn't.

The plot of land, that his father was very anxious to buy, was cheap at just $50,000. With what was expected to be found under it, his father thought he'd be able to make that back plus maybe an extra twenty to thirty grand. After buying it, then having the machine roll over it, to see what it was that it contained, and how many mines it had under it, his father started looking for people to work it. While half of the people that he hired to work the mine had worked with him for two or three prior seasons, the other half were fairly new to the process of mining a tunnel or underground network. The overseer, a man by the name of Mr. Glyonsi, was said to be one of the best overseers for people who mined or employed others to mine their land... it wasn't discovered until after the mine collapsed that he was a phony.

"Along with stealing around five thousand dollars of what was excavated, he didn't give some of the workers the tools that they needed to use on the mine, or chart the tools, or other instruments, that they were given. He never listed what was brought up on certain days of the week, he went behind dad's back in hiring more people to work the mine, and he was caught slouching in the outpost that his "office" was situated in." Efagti thought while picking his duffel bag up then slinging it over his shoulder. Once his bag was over his shoulder, he went to pick his suitcase up. "He was caught doing the latter more than twice; due to his paying the man that found him slouching on the job, his activity was never exposed to my father."

A terrific rainstorm occurred on September 1 and 2; despite the overseer's claim of doing so, he never reported or made any mention of it. The man paid more attention to what was being shown on his small, personal tv than on the weather. On the day following the ones where it rained, instead of going out to put the dog that pulled the small machine, that evaluated a tunnel's floor, walls, and ceiling strength, into the mine, he just sent a report to his father's cellular saying that all was fine and that the mine sustained minimal damage. His father, after seeing what was sent to him, gave the go for the workers to go to work; no more than ten minutes later, the mine collapsed on itself.

"And, two days after dad stated the wrong in his statements, he skipped town."

As the September 6 article said, a group of investigators searched the buildings that were on the grounds of the mine and found some incriminating evidence. Not all of what was found was damning towards his sire, like the news and newspapers claimed it was. Most, if not all, of what was found was discovered in the outpost where Mr. Glyonsi's "office" was and most of it had Mr. Glyonsi's handwriting and signature on it.

When the mine collapsed, and word reached him about it, his father thought that around seven of his thirteen men were in it. He was given a shock when he learned that it was twenty-two instead, and that seventeen extra men were hired to work his property. Mr. Glyonsi never approached, phoned, or sent any paperwork in about them men being hired to work the mine, or about their working it. The same went on his father receiving anything on workplace injury assessments, claims, or on the two machines and four handcarts that were purchased as "replacements" for the ones that became "damaged" or "went out" on August 17 and 23. While word was received about the mine being secure before work commenced on it, Mr. Glyonsi lied on what, exactly, was done on it to ensure everyone's safety.

According to one of the men who worked two prior seasons for his father, and was working the mine when it collapsed on him and his twenty-one co-workers, the mine was very crappily stabilized. Mr. Glyonsi appointed the men who didn't know what they were doing to do the job of fixing it up for work to be done on it; after telling them to fix it up, the man went to his "office" then started watching something on his tv. Once he heard that the mine was "secure", he waved his hand then said for everyone to go to work.

"I watched them six men fix the entrances and interior, sir." the one who his father personally sought out to interview on what happened said. "Instead of jamming the boards into the soil, then rigging a board or two between them, so they'd connect with the ones that were across from them and gain a better stability, they just stuck them in the soil then left them alone. No connecting boards were applied, nor was a criss-cross pattern done on the ceiling or walls."

Due to his tagging along with his father on certain days when he was both a young child and grown adult, he knew that this caused a ticking time-bomb to happen. It was a miracle that the entrances didn't collapse after the ceiling did; if the ceiling had a criss-cross pattern done on it with the boards, and if that pattern was connected with the one that was utilized on the walls, it wouldn't of fallen and five people wouldn't of died.

"Everyone in my family believes that he's innocent, and that he's not at fault for what happened. All of our friends believe that he's not the one responsible for what happened. And his lawyer also says that he's not the one that should be held accountable for what happened." he thought while leaving his room then going to where the stairs were.

Course, tell that to anyone else and they'd probably say otherwise. As of the last couple of days, more than thirty people from the ZRMG—the Zeta Ren Miner's Guild—had flocked to his family's abode to run their mouths and create unneeded trouble for him and his. Members of the families of the deceased workers had also flocked to their doorstep, as had friends and no one in particular relation to the ones who passed after the mine collapsed on them. Due to concerns that arose from everyone and their mama's flocking to their abode, all of the animals were herded up then put in their barns and none of the younger members of his family were allowed to go out for some sunshine or fresh air—in order to keep everyone, from animal to family member, safe, the order was given for most everyone to stay indoors and keep as low a profile as could be.

His mother, while able to continue with the life that they only just made a return to enjoying, was very sympathetic to everyone who came by despite being a nervous wreck. She was doing her best to keep most everyone in their family preoccupied and happy during this process. His father was the only one that she wasn't able to keep preoccupied, or happy; the man was being run ragged, and was going on five days of having no sleep because of it and the concerns that were falling on his shoulders. As much as it pained him to think it, his father, who was usually so calm, patient, and understanding, looked to be close to losing it.

"And that wouldn't be happening if the news outlets weren't taking a better than keen interest to what's coming from the mouths of the men who have little to no experience in working a mine. Nothing of what my father found when he conducted his own investigation, and nothing from the men who have experience in working for him, is being taken down or mentioned on either the news or newspaper columns."

While finishing his descent down the stairs, he thought about what else his father was dealing with on this mine situation. Along with having to deal with the blasphemous words that were being spread via the news outlets, and trying to keep his family safe during this trying time, he was dealing with Mr. Glyonsi. The whereabouts of the man who skipped town after his employer started denouncing what he was saying were listed as unknown for all of three days before a report came in about his being "missing". His father, after taking a drive out to the man's residence, disconfirmed that report by not only seeing that he was in his home but also moving about the buildings that lie around it. With the way Mr. Glyonsi was with that mine, and trying to scape-goat someone else so he could continue on as if nothing had happened, he was looking for trouble on more than one issue.

His father, along with being at risk of losing his mining license, was being sued for what happened and was also being blamed for the deaths of them five men. The last he heard, his father was suing Mr. Glyonsi for all of what happened, and for his negligence in doing what he was hired to do. A charge for fraud, theft, and character defamation was also been looked at—the latter being done because his father's reputation was being tarnished by what the man was saying on him.

"But that's not the worst of what's going on." he thought while opening the door to his family's abode then stepping out onto the porch.

While the collapse of that mine was bad, and Mr. Glyonsi being a phony, and running off, leaving his father all the blame, was worse, the act of his father not being able to uphold his plan in going to Earth for the next few months was both sickening, infuriating, and saddening. His father was looking forward to spending the final two months of Tazir and his family's stay on Earth with them and he was more than disappointed in hearing that he was no longer able to do this. Instead of getting to know Guyunis, and rekindling and gaining a relationship with Angel and Tazir's sons, he was stuck here, dealing with business in keeping things from falling into more disarray and with matters in court.

He received a shock yesterday, after his father got off the phone with his lawyer, who he spoke with for a long, three hours. The man, along with disclosing his feelings on the situation with his mine, asked for him to take his place on Earth. He, not wanting to cause anymore stress to fall on his shoulders, and wanting him to feel like one issue was lifted from his care, agreed to do so.

"While I want you to spend time with them, and get them use to you, I also want you to lay low on the things that they do. Remember, we're the Ubalki's, not DuruVile Surfeit and his female-mirrored self." he remembered his father saying after he said yes to taking his place on Earth.

"Won't you need me on the farm?" he asked. "With Amadh's hands being the way they are, you would need someone to take his place on certain things."

"Phaggo and the two men that I hired after we came home will do fine in keeping up with the farm and animals." his father answered.

He put his mind to a temporary rest after going a short distance from the residence that he was both raised in since birth and still lived in. The act of teleporting was both quick and effortless, as was his taking in his surroundings after the oddly green, and lush, grass of Earth was under his feet and the hum of the pink shield, that was over the town of Elchesheim-Illingen, was heard. After taking in his suroundings, he started walking.

The first thing that claimed his mental attention, after he took in his surroundings then started walking along the shield's exterior wall, was his brother. He and his parents were very worried about Amadh and, if he heard correctly, so were the other occupants of his parents' house.

Amadh, on the seventeenth of April, came across Master Vile trying to put the real hurt on Hazaar. Instead of calling for help, he rushed in then started fighting both him and the two men who worked for him. Due to Master Vile's action of nearly burning all of Amadh's suction cups from his hands, Amadh was experiencing a lot of pain, which was hindering him from doing as he usually did on the farm. The plastic surgeon was able to look at his brother's hands, and diagnose the problem, and administer the potion that'd make the suction cups return to their former station, but he wasn't able to re-instate their nerve endings. A surgery was done to do that. Amadh was now on physical therapy for his hands, which was slowly causing normal hand and finger mobility to return. Due to the nerve endings being surgerically returned to his brother's suction cups, his fingers, and hands, were in near-constant pain—he was on pain medication for this, which was only taking the edge off what he was feeling.

Phaggo was doing as much as his teenage self could, while their father, and the new help, were doing the rest. Now that their father wasn't available to work the farm, it was up to Phaggo and them men to keep up with it. Because of Amadh's need to attend his physical therapy appointments, and the pain that sometimes made him not want to stand or do anything for long, he couldn't take their father's place on Earth. It was either he go to Earth or no one.

If he was needed at home for any reason, or just plain wanted to speak to his parents or siblings, he had his cellular and portable computer in his duffel bag. He also had the phone in the residence that he was to live in until November came around and good, ol' pen and paper. He was all set to go; now all he had to do was find a way into the shield then get to the house that he was to stay in for the next few months.

"Time on Zeta Ren? Nearly noon. Time where I'm at? Around three in the morning." Efagti thought after walking around a mile along the shield that protected the town that he needed to get into. After seeing the buildings that he perceived as belonging to the main business district of Elchesheim-Illingen, he stopped then took a communicator out from his pocket. Once the communicator was in his hand, he pressed his finger against the initiate button then spoke into it. "Tazir? You awake, or alive where you're at?"

"Let's not make jokes on that, please." the gravelly-sounding voice of his older half-brother came through the speaker of his communicator loud and clear a few minutes later.

"Deal. I'm on Earth, and outside the shield that's around the town that you're at. Can you—"

"Let me get dressed. I'll see you in a short."

It wasn't very hard for him to picture what his brother was doing. With Tazir not having Angel under the same roof as he for a while now, he was probably engaging her in constant nightly sex-acts. He wouldn't be surprised if he heard of their having their next child soon, or if he saw Angel puking or acting all off with her actions after getting to the residence that she and her sons, and Eshal and Tazir, were staying in. While waiting for Tazir to get dressed, then get to where he was, he looked around.

He could hear the nearby river, which he knew was the Rhine, and he could just barely make out the deep foliage that made seeing it next to impossible. The town was quiet and near-dark; he guessed that it was the street poles that he was seeing. He heard no horns blaring or blasting, no people walking about, or even saw anyone. It was hard to believe that he lived on this planet from October of last year to a little after the middle part of this year's April... and it was hard to believe that he was back on it.

"Don't even think about it." he thought when the idea of the planet's sentient female forms came to him.

The main initiative of his being here was to spend time with his brother and sister-in-law, and niece and nephews. While the temptation may be there to "experiment" with a female or two while being here, he was to try his damnedest to stave it. Even though he looked at an occasional female from another species, and purchased magazines that showed women who weren't Zetakin, he preferred to keep his intended partners as being Zetakin. The other species in the known Universe, while sexually enticing, and probably wanting to spend a night or two with a Zetakin, wouldn't be able to go for more than one turn with one of his species—unlike Tazir and Qeeta, who were half-breed Zetakins, he and his family were purebloods. He had heard stories on how females of other species couldn't handle the bulbous cap of a pureblood Zetakin, or the vivaciousness of the males that his species was known to produce—and he also had the peculiar history that was known to exist on a certain man named Pazib Clobor to know that the humans wouldn't last long with one of Zetakin blood.

Pazib Clobor met and then fell in love with a blonde-haired woman about six hundred years ago. While the attraction was mutual between the two parties, and the woman moved from Earth to Zeta Ren, there were automatic problems in the marriage. The woman, who was kept inside due to being what she was, was very negative towards her husband; she was also very against his putting the full of his penis in her, or putting his sperm in her—the wall was where Mr. Clobor's semen was said to be splashed against. The marriage lasted only a year before the two went their separate ways; with no children procurred from them, the divorce was done quickly. The woman was speedily returned to her planet of birth following the divorce.

Crack!

He twisted to the side. The pair of yellow eyes, that looked to possess tiny, black pits in their centers, were seen for only a second before disappearing. He became tense after seeing them—a certain man named Master Vile had eyes of that color... while he was mad enough at him to put him out of commission for a while, he didn't want to do so right now. It might cause trouble on his end and it wasn't what he was suppose to be doing while being on this planet. If the chance presented itself again on another planet, or on the one that he was on at a later date, he'd partake in it but, right now, not now. He turned back to the shield then waited. While he heard the sound of something, or someone, moving around behind him twice, and heard the sound of one making a grunting sound, he didn't turn to see who or what it was that was causing it.

"Come on, Tazir. Spooky out here."

It took him another ten minutes of standing there, thinking his thoughts, and hearing the noises of whatever it was that was behind him, before noticing the light. It was both red, blinking, and being waved towards the other end of the town. It didn't look to belong to a stationary object. After seeing the light, he nodded his head then teleported. He had no more done so before seeing the triple-gold flash that his older, half-brother's teleportation effect had to it. He smiled while watching his brother perform some spell on the shield-wall before him then felt his smile falter after his brother approached the wall that was just worked on.

Images of his brother being zapped back, and of his leaving a trail of sparks behind him, came to him. He invisioned his brother's yell of pain, then landing; the final image that he saw was of his brother's slow gathering from the ground. The shield, while penetrable to one of human and Goblin blood, wasn't penetrable by the other species of the Universe. Anyone who wasn't human, or Goblin, was zapped back, and knocked for a loop after landing on the ground. He was about to say for his brother to not touch the shield when, to his amazement, he stepped through it. TazirVile Lajoshu Surfeit, who had a different daddy than he, and had him by a good many of thousands of years, stepped towards him after leaving the shield.

"W... did Angel drop the strength of the shields or something?" Efagti asked after his brother stopped before him.

"No. She used a spell to make it so they'll know who I am, and so I won't be zapped back by them." TazirVile replied.

"Take it that you used that same spell on the shield nearest us?" Efagti asked.

"No. Used a spell to temporarily disable it so you can get in. Only Angel can make it permanent for you to go in or out." TazirVile replied.

"She going to do that, or will I be a prisoner of the shield until November comes around?"

"Think she'll do that. I'll be sure to ask her that after everyone wakes up."

Seeing as Vile was playing prowl on the town's shield's exterior these past few days, he wasn't able to appear where his brother was initially at and then do the spell to make it so he could get in and then follow him to where the house was. Guyunis was recently given a sort of flashlight that was both normal and had a blinking effect to it when it was turned on; before leaving the house, he went to his bedroom then took it just for the occasion of getting his brother's attention and then gesturing what he wanted him to do. Once Efagti was on the other side of town, he went to work on using the spell that'd weaken the shield's interior shield-wall for three minutes and then going to him. Now that he was before his brother, and they had a small conversation, he gestured for him to follow him. Efagti, who was forty-seven thousand, five hundred, and sixty-two, did as he wanted him to.

Right after entering the shield, then letting his brother look around, and acknowledge the fact that he wasn't zapped back by the source that his wife put up to protect the planet from his nephew's brand of evil, he told him that Vile was probably in the area and that was why he made his request for him to appear where he did—it was no surprise to him when his brother described the eyes that he saw, which did sound very strikingly similar to Vile's own, and the sounds procurred by the one who possessed them. Vile had made a threat to him just four days ago that revolved around his and his family's stay on the planet—if they weren't off the planet on November 17, a hefty fee would find itself as being mailed to him and he'd be slapped with a tresspassing charge.

While he could call Vile on his tresspassery charge, and on his actually not having the side of the planet that he and his were staying on, he didn't want to. He sent his nephew a text just recently saying that everything was on-schedule and that he and his were to adhere to the plan on moving from Earth to Moas in November.

If anything came up about Efagti being here, he had a plan in order for it. Efagti was here to set-up shop—aka, move in—and was just confused over which side of the planet was accessible to him for that to happen. After getting his brother's attention, he told him this plan; Efagti agreed with it then stopped long enough to retrieve his phone. He sent his parents a text on what was to happen if anything came up on his being on the planet before putting his phone away.

"The weather ever shape up here?" Efagti asked before they teleported to the house.

"Looks to be—been nice and sunny for the last six days. Eshal, the boys, and the locals are all a-buzz with excitement over it." TazirVile replied.

"Good to know that I won't be staying in Twister Alley, or Stormy Central." Efagti said.

"Good to know that me and mine won't be experiencing Twister Alley, or Stormy Central, anymore." TazirVile said.

Before teleporting to the house, he was led through the east-side portion of Elchesheim-Illingen. His brother let him get a general idea of what the town had in it before they teleported, then went towards the house that his relatives were staying in.

It was no surprise to him that a sort of Deja vu happened after the house was seen. He remembered the events of what happened on April 17 well, and he also remembered what happened after Shaam left after hearing that his way of how things were to happen wasn't to be adhered. While the house looked the same as it did on the day that Hazaar was tracked here, it didn't have the same vibe to it, or the same variety of foliage in its front yard.

The Yoshino Cherry tree, that was in the yard's center, was quite skeletal on April 17. Its branches were now covered in leaf-buds; while it was too dark to see it in full, he had the idea that fruit was growing on it. The two, red flowering Dogwood trees, that were to the right of the yard, were also skeletal on the day that Hazaar was tracked here; they were in bloom too. The same looked to be going on with the line of bright pink, Dwarf Crepe Myrtle trees, that flanked the driveway's left side. In a way, he got the idea that spring was in the air and that everything, while slow in making a return to full bloom, was happy. Along with being happy to see and spend time with his in-law and her family, this made him happy too. No more having to stay inside because of the rain wanting to come down for days without fail, or because it was blisteringly hot or cold for days on end, or because of the dangerous storms that were popping up. He could see how his niece and nephews were getting along, and how they acted whenever they were outside. And around others! He looked forward to that too. While he had heard that the boys were a social bunch, he had yet to see it for himself; he was hoping to see both it and Eshal becoming involved in it while being here.

"Did a spell on the place the day following the one where the boys, and my wife, were found to be in it." TazirVile said after opening the door then leading his brother inside. "Added two extra rooms to it. To accommodate Eshal, and myself."

"You took up a separate room from Angel? I find that very hard to believe." Efagti said while closing the door behind him. He locked the door then followed his brother down the hallway that it was on; while going down the hallway that banked to the right after the first one came to a close, he quickened his pace—it was late and he was sure that his brother wanted to go back to bed.

"In a way, yes and no." TazirVile replied. "Took up residence in the living room during the night hours for a while, then slept with Angel in her room for about a month, then found myself as being moved to the room that comes off the basement for about a week before being allowed to move back in with my wife."

"Wh..." he stopped short after remembering something that his father told him, his mother, and siblings. Due to how the boys were so nervous of him for the first two weeks of his stay in the house, Tazir took up residence in the living room to soothe their anxieties; some sort of "neighborly" intervention happened in June that caused his brother to take up residence in some room that his nephews built. Along with being slow in moving about the house after that intervention happened, he let his wife make the decision on when he was to move back into the room that she slept in.

He followed his brother down the hallway, then up the stairs, then down the upstairs hallway. After reaching the far end of the hall, he saw that there were three doors before him. One was half-ajar; it belonged to a bathroom. Another was closed; being the person that he was, he didn't go to open or disturb who may or may not be in it. The third was wide open. On a simple glance, he noted that it was an unoccupied room—which was probably to be his until November. After seeing this room, he went in then got situated.

The room, while having red carpet on its floor, and reddish-cream walls, and a set of dark red drapes hanging over its one window, had just the basics in it. He put most of his belongings in either the redwood dresser or closet, then stashed the rest under the bed, which had a hover-type frame, and soft mattress, that was covered in a dark blue bed set, on it, then sat down.

Tazir had already given him the signal to make himself at home. He was probably back in Angel's room; undressing himself and getting ready to rejoin her in bed. Seeing as he had a couple of hours to go before actually seeing and then saying hello to his niece and nephews, and sister-in-law, he lay on the bed then took a nap.

"Don't see why I shouldn't. This is something like a vacation, and naps are manditory for them." Efagti said before shutting his eyes then going to sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

"And hello and good morning to all who are waking. With the dials set to be around twenty-four degrees Celsius, no one should be staying inside today. Another day of fine weather has been forecast, so break out them skateboards and swimsuits and get out there and enjoy it. While doing so, hear this number by Bild mich perfekt."

The song had no more started playing when his arm stretched out from his bed. The motorcycle alarm clock, that was sitting before his bedside cabinet's lamp, was set to the Bayern 1 radio station soon after it was placed where it was; the chosen station was known to play the time's more popular tunes, with specific information on certain events coming in during commercial. The station was mostly directed towards an audience that was over the age of thirty-five—along with being well over that age, this was the only station that he found himself as liking when he was checking the available radio stations out. He was fast in both silencing the song, sitting up, and stretching after his alarm went off; the act of yawning was done before he threw his bedding from him then got out of bed.

After doing a quickie in making his bed, he went towards his dresser. The first thing that he did that morning? Why, disrobe from what he was wearing then dress in something that was fresh.

"Don-k-t see why I shouldn't wear this." Guyunis said to himself after taking the pair of blue jeans, that were pretty much destroyed from the knee on down, out from the dresser's second drawer.

The pair of light brown cargo shorts, that were pretty much shredded from the knee on down, was slid from his body then thrown behind him. After taking that item from himself, he put the pair of jeans on then went to find himself a pair of socks.

Unlike his bruders, who were using all of the drawers on their dressers for what they owned in clothes, he just used two—the second and third. While looking for a pair of socks, he reminded himself on why this was done. The Meyer's, while giving him pieces of clothing to wear, had never thrown him anything that was either presentable or halfway presentable; it was always something that was ripped or torn in some degree, or dirty and not desirable by the one who owned it, or overly stretched. Of the clothing that they threw him, he only kept four pairs of pants and six pairs of socks. The shirts were either badly torn or stretched out to wear, so he threw them out; the same went with the underwear, which weren't only worn previously by someone, and not cleaned, but also holey. Except for Bile, no one in his family knew of his going around with nothing on underneath his pants to protect his male parts with. No one seemed to wonder about his lack of shirt-wearing; to his knowledge, they thought he thought that shirts weren't his style... which, in a way, was true. After going so many hundreds of years without wearing them, he had grown rather distant in wanting to wear them.

While he still wore the rags that he was thrown by his "former masters", he did have new clothing in his dresser. His mutter had gotten him some new pants on Christmas—one, of which, had to be thrown out after his encounter with his fader's uncle occurred—and she also got him some new pants two weeks later. Lhaklar had also gotten him some new socks, and Bile got him a new belt. Even though he had them items, he still found himself as wanting to wear the rags that he was given by the Meyer's—two to three times a week, he wore one of the new pants, or pairs of socks, that he was given last year.

After grabbing a pair of socks from the same drawer that his pants were in, he went to his closet. He grabbed the chains that he wore each day, which were hanging on the knob of the door, then went into the closet for one of the pairs of boots that were on the shelf. After grabbing the pair of steel-toed, waterproof logger boots, he put them on them started to leave his room.

He stopped just before his room's door when he noticed the item that was hanging on the knob.

"Didn't I put that in my top dresser drawer?" he thought after seeing the flashlight that was dangling from the door's knob.

Since he wore no underwear, and had no shirts to his name, he was just using the second and third drawers on his dresser. The fourth drawer wasn't being used by anything while the top one had odd and end things in it that he had yet to find a home for. The flashlight, that Lazeer "found" for him on the first of the month, was put in that drawer... yet it wasn't in it now. Why was that?

He pondered this for a few seconds before retrieving the flashlight then taking it back to his dresser. After reaching his dresser, he noticed something amiss with it that he hadn't seen earlier. The top drawer wasn't shut all the way. Had one of his bruders come into his room, then played search in his top dresser drawer for something that'd aid them in being able to see before heading down to the kitchen for a drink, or something to snack on during the night hours, and not slid the drawer all the way back in? He made a mental note to ask them this question after everyone sat to eat breakfast; after putting the flashlight back in its drawer, then closing the drawer, he left his room.

Once he was out of his room, he went down the hall to see if the bathroom was available. After knocking, then getting no response back, he opened the door then went in. All the usual things were done before he left; as with the last few days, he made sure to leave the hair that came from the brush in the sink—it was kind of hilarious to see their mutter coming into the dining room during meal hour with a purple, black, and light blue hairball. Yesterday, she asked if anyone had lost a hamster before plopping the ball that she found in the upstairs bathroom sink on the table; Eshal blushed, Hazaar smiled, and he just snickered. Two days earlier, after their mutter took a shower, then found herself as having to dig her fingers into the drain to unclog it, she did the same thing—but, instead of the ball being purple, black, and light blue, it had a few pine green hairs in it. Lhaklar did more than blush after everyone turned to look at him—seeing as he had no hair on his head, arms, or legs, they were fast in putting two-and-two together on where that green hair came from. With his bathroom routine done and out of the way, he left the bathroom then went down the hall.

"Tazir, no. Just no."

"Angel—"

"I said no. I don't want to hear anymore of this. Now is not the right time. Maybe when he's better accustomed to everyone and his surroundings, and is a bit more confident, and experiences less regressions, but, right now, no."

Such a simple conversation had to be remembered right then and there. He sighed after it popped into place then worked to get it back to where it should be, which was in the far back recesses of his mind.

That conversation occurred seven days ago. Like with the time when he overheard his mutter talking to her husband about another party coming to the house to stay with them for a while, he eavesdropped on them while they were talking—but, instead of their being in the living room and he hanging back from the window that was between that room and the dining room, they were in the master bedroom and he was in the upstairs hallway. It was no secret to anyone that he experienced a "regression" after hearing what he did on the thirty-first—after racing upstairs, then going into his room, he found that Lhaklar was still in it. His bruder looked at him then asked what was wrong; instead of telling him what he heard, he said for him to get out. Though looking rather concerned in the face, his bruder did as he instructed him to.

The annoying voice, that plagued him on the twenty-secondth of August, and that he heard and then silenced on August 31, returned with a vengeance on the two days that followed his hearing his mutter and her husband speaking in the master bedroom. He battled it all while going through the motions of being fearful, and nervous, of his mutter's husband and his daughter. On the night of September 1 and 3, he experienced a series of nightmares—his mutter's husband became something like a slave driver in them, and his daughter was nothing more than a little demon with him whenever she saw him; whenever they saw fit to do it, they abused and used him as a servant, and forced his mutter and bruders to do as they were. Even though he had no sleep on September 4, he did have his mutter's company—to put him at ease, she decided to sleep with him. The voice plagued him for half of that day before being silenced; the rest of that day was nice and calm for him, which was a big relief to both him and his family.

On the fifth and sixth, he was a little better, while, on the seventh and eighth, he was back to being his old, former self. The voice was gone, and so were the dreams. His mutter, on September 6, moved back to her room after seeing that he was making a slow return to being normal again.

Like a cruel slap to the face, he had another regression on September 9—the man in the house said 'glad to have you back, son' to him while they were eating breakfast. Along with shouting at him to not call him that, he shot up from his chair then raced upstairs. It took him another three days to get back to normal, and to apologise for what he said, and to make a return to his prior seating arrangement at the table. He hadn't felt any fears, or nervousness, or regrets over speaking or acknowledging the man's presence in seven days now, which was a relief off his and his family's shoulders. The same went on his not hearing the voice or experiencing anymore dreams.

"The decision was made for no one to come over, and stay with us, on the eleventh... I'm glad that it was made because I don't like going through these regressions, or hearing that voice, or having them dreams, or having my life come to a crashing halt." he thought while going down the hallway.

His mutter was sure firm on her husband when the subject of who came over was brought up on the thirteenth, fourtheenth, and fifteenth. Along with being cordial in speaking with him, she snapped at him. She also threw the towel, that she only just took from the laundry basket, to the floor when it was brought up for the record-breaking fourth time on the fourteenth. As far as he knew, no further discussions on the issue were brought up; things between his mutter and her husband were calm for the last two days.

When he reached the stairs, he started down them. He had no more started doing so before stopping then stooping down; his cat, who he had yet to see that morning, was on stall-mode on the fifth step. He scooped her up, gave her a pet, then continued down the stairs. Once he finished his descent, he placed her down.

"Tha-k-t man mustn't be up yet." he thought after putting his pet down on the floor.

He snickered when he remembered how he felt on the mornings that were experienced in June, July, and August. Along with popping out in a rash after seeing that his mutter's husband was carrying, or had carried, his pet from where she was found to a different portion of the house, he grew a tinge jealous towards her wanting to play cuddle on his lap. It seemed that whenever the man went to sit somewhere, or was sitting somewhere, Sabine would come up to get on his lap. On some days, he'd act out his frustration and jealousy on this in private; he'd also come close to crying over the idea of his pet turning to liking his mutter's husband better than he. It was only when Sabine continued to be her usual self around him, and when he saw that the man wasn't out to steal his pet's affections, that he cooled down.

Sabine, though friendly with the man and his daughter, still slept in his room—on some nights, she made a nest out of his hair then slept in it, or just plain slept by his head. She still begged him, and only him, to play with her too. The girlie, or his much older sister, had tried to feed her a bunch of times over the last couple of weeks—Sabine turned her nose to the food given to her, so that, in itself, told him that it was still him that she was close to. As a way to get her to eat on the days when Eshal fed her, he took the bowl up then took it to the counter; the act of his "tampering" with the food that was in it would happen before it was set down. Sabine, without fail, would gobble it all down after noticing that it was he who "made it" for her.

"It's a big place. Don't think you'll find yourself as being bored while being in it. Along with having a lot of rooms in it, and being on a big plot of land, it has a lot of animals living either in or on its grounds." he remembered his mum's husband saying a few days ago, when he asked about the residence that he and his family were to be moved to soon.

According to the man, his home had a dog in it. He met this with mixed emotions; while he was okay with dogs, he wasn't really a dog type of person—the people who had him over the years had robbed him of nearly all interest in them. He had no experience with horses, goats, or sheep, so he had nothing to say or consider about them. He hoped that he'd not be expected to look after them animals—it'd be a shame if he was moved to his mutter's husband's house, then was expected to do manual labor like a servant. He was still clinging to the hope that he'd be treated fairly and be given the same opportunities that his bruders were given.

"Wonder what the weather is like on M—"

He had just entered the dining room when it hit him. Along with experiencing morning fatigue, he was preoccupied with getting dressed and then doing his usual routine to realize that today was the day that he was to hang out with Giovanni. His friend was grounded at the start of the month for mouthing off at his parental guardian—something about his needing to do overtime at his workplace, and not calling Guido to tell him about it. Today was to be the first day in over a week since he had seen or spoken with his friend.

His fatigue and morning activities had also caused him to miss out on detecting the change that was present in the house's atmosphere. There was something in the air that wasn't there yesterday; if he had to put a name to it, something new had come into the house. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know who or what it was, or even hear about it.

The cat must of noticed the change in the atmosphere too, because she was huddled by his feet. On any other day, she'd wander into the dining room, and then kitchen, after being placed down; on this day, she wasn't doing that. There was no begging, or mewing for food, or even the off-wandering from her on this morning. She was just all huddled up by his feet, which was both abnormal and strange. After taking note of the house's atmosphere, then what his cat was doing, he took a breath then stepped forward. He had no more done so before noticing the three people that were in the kitchen.

"Thank you," his mutter was saying to her husband, who was giving her the carton of eggs, and container of hash browns.

"No problem." the man who was her husband said after being relieved of the items that he retrieved for her.

"Honestly," his mutter turned her attention to the room's other party. This party was standing almost directly behind her; along with being as still as a rock, he was as quiet as could be. "we don't go through but so many cartons of eggs a month. At most, it's just two or three."

"With a family of eight to feed, I'm very surprised to hear that." the now-noticed third party replied.

At first, he took the third person in the room as being Hazaar then, when he turned to look at him, he saw that he wasn't his bruder. The same went on his resembling him.

The third party was of the male gender. He was a tall, six foot, two and a half inches; his skin, along with being a dark blue color, was stretched rather tightly on his body. He had an upside down, teardrop-shaped head that had two, oval-shaped eyes in its center. The eyes were a rather bright, silverish-bronze color that was a little odd—never had he seen eyes of this color before. The two holes, that were under his eyes, were like those possessed by Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer; the same went with the O-shaped mouth that was under them.

Whoever it was that was in the room with him, his mutter, and his mutter's husband had a rather muscular body on him. The cream-colored t-shirt, that he was wearing, gave him ample opportunity to see the thick muscle that was on his arms. Even though he wore a pair of blue formal pants, that had a black belt around their waist, he could see the indent of the muscle that he had on that part of his body too. The pair of blue shoes, that were on his feet, were rather formal in design.

Like some of his siblings, the man had suction cups on the ends of each of his fingers. He was about to look down, to ensure that he wasn't about to step on Sabine, when the man spoke.

"I see that he's fared well these past couple of months." the man spoke with a flat, but rather honeyed, voice that gave him cause for concern. Nine times out of ten, people who had a honey-sound to their voice weren't very trustworthy; he automatically placed this to the man.

"He's come a long ways since what happened with his father, and with Tazir and Eshal moving in." his mutter said after turning to see who the man was referencing.

"Glad to see," what the man said next he couldn't decipher. This must be mutual with his mutter, because she turned to look at her husband. A hushed translation occurred between the two before she acknowledged what was told to her.

"All but a few have healed. He's not wearing but so many bandages anymore."

Angel looked at her child; even though she was glad to see him, and to see that he hadn't left the room after seeng that they had a guest, she didn't call him over or ask for him to be friendly with Efagti. For the last two days, she had worried about her son—Tazir had worked his magic on her, and had gotten her to both lower her resolve and agree to having Efagti instead of Cheshire come over. With her husband, and Lhaklar, knowing about what was going on with his stepfather, he decided to see if she'd bend for Efagti coming over. While he knew the risks of what he talked her into doing, he was hopeful that all would go well and that Guyunis would show that he's what she continued to call him—which was a bounce-back type of kid, or someone who bounced back from his misgivings then continued with life.

She didn't know if he was playing off on the phrase, or used it to his advantage, but, he called her out on what she continued to call her son. In regards to his hint-making on his not believing that her son was a bounce-back type of kid, she said for him to watch Guyunis and closely—her son proved her correct by reverting back to his old, lively, usual self six days after his initial regression occurred; on his second regression, her statement on what he was was further evidenced by his making a return to how he use to be in three days time. She knew her children, both biological and not, well and they also knew her well. Her husband, after seeing how quick her son was in returning to how he use to be, had given his head a nod before giving her a rather curt bow; four days after that bow was given, he approached her on having Efagti over.

"Won't be for long, Angel. Just two months. You know Efagti well—he'd not hurt a hair on Guyunis's head. The same goes for the other boys." her husband said two days ago.

"It's not his physically hurting him that concerns me."

"If he bounces back as quickly as he's shown with me, he'll be fine with Efagti coming over. Just have him get use to him... no big talks, or Efagti looming over his shoulder at every turn, or entering or wanting to enter his room at every minute, or even following him wherever he goes. Just have them be under the same roof for a while."

"I'm not sure—"

"Angel, he does need to get to know some of the people that are on my side of the family. Why not start with the more lenient ones? Efagti will be the only one to receive this type of contact with him; everyone else will either be allowed to communicate with him through the phone or letter. Only until you tell me that he's ready will he and the others in my family have contact with one another."

"Promise on that?"

"My last dying breath, My Love."

With his promise made, then self-written and given to her the following day, she agreed to have Efagti and only Efagti over. While what her husband had said was true—Guyunis _did_ need to get use to the family that resided on his potential adopted grand-maternal line—she still worried about her brother-in-law, who use to be a sort of step-cousin to her, being here. What if he started snapping at her son, or caused affairs under her roof to get all topsy turvy for a few weeks in regards to how her sons lived their lives, or created other, unneeded trouble for her and hers during his stay? While she was content in knowing that it was an Ubalki over a Surfeit being here—the Ubalki's were a bit more placid than the Surfeits, and they allowed for a lot more to happen than the Surfeits too—she still worried about what was to happen in the next two months.

At the moment, it was just Guyunis that noticed her brother-in-law. Her other sons, and Eshal, had yet to come down and then see and say hello, or speak a word to him. So far, Efagti had seen that Guyunis looked well, and that his injured back looked better. No ill or discontent words had come from him since he saw Guyunis in the adjacent room.

"G, why don't you go on and feed Sabine before taking your seat at the table?" Angel said after her son continued to stand where he was.

While Guyunis did as he was told, he was thinking about the animal that he scooped up then carried to the kitchen. In the months that he was phoning and talking to him and his father, Tazir had neglected to tell them a few things—nothing on any of the boys owning any animals was said to them. The cat, that Guyunis was working on feeding, was both small and rather beautifully marked; while the quality of the fur was odd, its color was very rich and interesting. The calico color, while not young by any means, wasn't as widely found out on the other planets of the known Universe. Unlike Earth, where it seemed that only the female cat had the calico color, both genders were seen as having it outside of Earth's galaxy. In some places in the Universe, a calico cat was revered, cherished, or highly valued as a pet while, in others, it was looked upon with fear or contempt. It was very well-known that some species took their preference for the calico colored cat so far as to worship them... some even used the cat's shed as a type of medicine, while others ate the cat just to gain a sort of spiritual connection to the world around them.

With Guyunis being slated to be moved to Moas here in the next few months, he'd not have to worry about who to watch out for in regards to his cat. The people in the M-51 Galaxy did nothing but see the animal as being a normal, but rather colorful, pet. The people where he came from, on the other hand, were a good example of the known species who revered, or cherished, the cat for its color and the proposed luck that it gave to its owner—or the people who saw it.

Guyunis took a small, ceramic dish, that was a striped, dark pink and red color, from one of the kitchen cabinets right after entering the kitchen. A can of cat food was removed from the same cabinet about two seconds later. The bowl, after the can's top was popped, was filled then placed on the floor; the animal that's food was just prepared for it was fast in eating it. Guyunis moved to where the dining room table was after feeding his pet.

"Seated two down from the table's head; unless they don't sit by order of age anymore, he'll be sitting between Lhaklar and Hazaar." Efagti thought after the boy sat down.

Angel had shown no negative actions or disdain towards his being here. She was very happy to see him; after he entered the room, a hug was given, then some words were expressed before she went to where the table was. The act of her making the table lengthen to accommodate him, and then making a copy of one of the table's present chairs, was done right after she was before it. If that wasn't answer enough on his being welcomed warmly for his stay then he didn't know what a warm welcome was.

After the rest of her family came down, he'd let them take a seat at the table before claiming the chair that wasn't occupied. Tazir, he was sure, was to sit at the table's head; he thought that Angel was going to sit on his right—unlike the typical married couple, who sat opposite one another when they ate, his brother and sister-in-law seemed to prefer sitting in this way when they dined. Eshal, while on Moas, would sit on her father's left while her brothers would sit beside their mother; until her parents made a daughter or two, Eshal would have the side of the table that she sat on to herself.

"And here comes some of my nephews." Efagti thought after Hazaar and Lazeer came into the room that Guyunis was in.

Hazaar and Lazeer stopped short after seeing the man who could only be the oldest of their father's younger half-brothers. While a million thoughts ran through their heads, none were as prominent as the one on how they witnessed their parents discussing matters on who came over and who didn't these past couple of weeks. Their mother, they had figured, would pursuade the old man, who seemed to be so adamant on having someone come over to stay with them for a while, that letting another come over and then disrupt the way things went under their roof, and cause Guyunis's life to come to a near halt, wasn't needed. It looked like their figuring was very wrong—the evidence on who pursuaded who on who was to come over was right in front of them.

After looking at their uncle, then at themselves, then glancing at Guyunis, they sustained their sighs then went forward. Their uncle had already started coming towards them; as a way to keep their brother, who stiffened after seeing the man coming towards him, from being spooked by the one who was walking towards them, they intercepted him right where the kitchen joined the dining room.

Even though he was a quiet and to-himself type of guy during the morning hours, he mellowed down long enough to acknowledge and then talk to his uncle. Lazeer, though giving a clear showing of how nervous he was, was his old, normal morning self towards their uncle. Their mother, he could tell, was proud of them for doing this. After speaking with their uncle, they turned then went to the room that Guyunis was in. While Lazeer took his usual seat, he decided to give Guyunis a pat on the back then leave the room. He went straight upstairs.

"Hey," Bile, who was coming from the upstairs bathroom, said.

"For him to mosey on up here like he is, he must want a noogie." Lhaklar, who was in the hallway, said. There was no mistaking the playful, evil sound that he had to him; if not for what was going on downstairs, he would of done his usual in either grumbling or throwing a mock-threat on what'd happen if he touched his head, or hair.

"Thought I'd head up here to give you two the warning on there being a "guest" downstairs." Hazaar said.

"A guest? At this hour?" Bile looked doubtful.

"Yeah. Our Uncle Efagti," Hazaar relayed. "And I don't think what's going on is classified as being a normal visitation either."

Bile and Lhaklar sighed, while Eshal, who heard all of what he said, barreled past them then raced down the stairs. Due to her swift exit of the house's second level, she both met and spoke with Efagti before they did.

His brothers' sighs were accurately made. While they enjoyed company—when it was of the friendly, non-soliticing sort, and of the sort that came by after ten o'clock—, they preferred for said company to make note of their visitation either a few hours or days in advance. That way, the house could be made to look presentable, and everyone could be here to welcome them for their stay, and be around in case something happened that their mother might not be able to handle. With Guyunis only just making a return to being like his old, usual self after experiencing two, back-to-back regressions, their uncle's arrival was very unneeded; their father should of known better than to pursuade their mother to having someone come over.

Even though he and his brothers stuck around home to help Guyunis out during his regressions, or had him tag-along with them when he was especially edgey of what was going on around him, they still spent time on their own. One of them vintage car shows was done on the fifth; Lhaklar went to it. Three days later, Bile and he went to one of Karlsruhe's two malls for a quick browse session, which quickly turned into a buying session. On the twelfth, Lazeer spent some time with his friends and, on the fourteenth and fifteenth, Bile and Lhaklar hung around some of their friends. Bile and Lazeer also spent some time in the flea market in Karlsruhe on the second, seventh, and yesterday—after going to the dump on them days, they decided to swing by the place to see what they could sell of what they found. Bile made €54 on one trip while, on the following two trips, he made €65. Lazeer, on the other hand, made €34 on his first visit while, on the second, he made €68; on his third and final trip, he made nice with €88.10.

"And here goes a very possible repeat of April and May. Thought we'd have a little peace before the move from the planet was made but nooooo, dad had to bring him in then ruin any chance of that happening." Hazaar thought before re-entering the dining room, then taking his seat at the table.

Except for the time where Efagti called Lhaklar "Junior", her family was very cordial with the one who was to stay with them for the next two months. She couldn't help but be proud of them; instead of being cold, or nervous and then shoving him to the side, or not wanting him anywhere near them, her sons were both welcoming their uncle to their home and speaking and being around him. After Bile and Lhaklar came down, then did their rounds of speaking with Efagti, everyone sat to have breakfast—her brother-in-law seemed surprised over where everyone sat, and with finding himself as taking the available seat that was across from Lhaklar's. A meal of pancakes, eggs, and sausage was made; between conversation on what was to be done that day, and on how things were going at Efagti's parents' place, these were scarfed down. It was really when the meal was done in being eaten, and when the plates and eating utensils were squared away, when a repeat of what seemed to be the norm between her husband and their oldest son occurred.

Lhaklar, a few years ago, had gained an interest in the papers that were circulated in the Zeta Reiticuli system. Tazir had learned this on the first of the month, after coming in with one of the _Trybunel_ papers then finding himself as not being allowed to read it. She was still under the belief that her husband was allowing him to do as he was with snatching the paper from him; the idea of Tazir not wanting to aggravate, or cause further harm to their child's still-injured limb, was a good one, and one that she did hope was true.

"Looks like he's retained that Paper Thieving habit of his." Efagti said after the _Trybunel_ was in Lhaklar's grasp.

"Still as fast as ever with his reflexes on grabbing the paper from either my grasp or reach." TazirVile remarked.

"Ten minutes and you can have it back." Lhaklar said while opening the paper then taking in what was in it.

"Deal." TazirVile said while retaining a sigh.


	29. Chapter 29

The start of Efagti's stay wasn't as bad as they thought it'd be. The man, while friendly, wasn't too friendly and he didn't bother them but so much. Hazaar was his usual, cranky self for half of the morning of the seventeenth; when he cooled down, he practically led the man to his room. He showed both it and his pet turtles off once they got there. During that day's supper, Efagti surprised them by saying that he went through a phase were he brought home more than enough turtles to cause his parents to start calling him the Turtle Wrangler. Hazaar's room was the only one in the house that Efagti was shown on that day; along with being shown that room, and its displayed items and animals, the man was included in playing a few video games, and watching about an hour's worth of both his and Lhaklar's favorite shows. Eshal also showed him the "mermaid" pillows that she was still raving over; though retaining his masculine side, their uncle did show an interest in them after seeing what could be done on them.

Efagti spent the rest of the seventeenth with either their father or on his own. Judging by how he was using his cellular on the times that he passed by the room that he was given to stay in, he guessed that he gave his parents the scoop on what was going on and how everyone in the house was faring.

The day following their uncle's visit's start, Lazeer warmed up to him. With the rain falling, and the wind being a bit too strong for anyone to go out, they just stayed inside on the eighteenth; in a way, Lazeer used that to his advantage in both grabbing their uncle's attention and then showing him his room and pets. While Efagti was said to be very interested in the Glass Frogs that their brother had, he was said to have a "small" interest in the Emperor Newts. While Efagti had no tales to tell on how he caught and then brought any amphibians home during supper on that night, he did say that he had a female friend who about drove her parents insane with the many frogs that she decided to pick up, stuff in her pocket, then bring home—this friend of his was said to be working in a zoo now. As one of its top zookeepers and animal experts.

A small bit of hot water was experienced between Efagti and Lhaklar on that day. Even though the door to Lhaklar's room was half-ajar, he should of knocked before sliding it open then going in. Lhaklar, who just came in from having a session in one of the area's water sources with his friends, was only barely clothed before their uncle came in to say hello. After speaking some of his displeasure on their uncle barging in on him, Lhaklar showed him his room—as was natural, he showed him his vast collection of vintage model cars while doing so. A spell was done to obscure the poster that was on his closet door after their uncle started making his rounds of checking things out. While their uncle made no motion to remove anything that was deemed "inappropriate" for one of Lhaklar's age, he did caution Lhaklar on what he was "getting himself into" and on what he was "interested in displaying at his age".

The following day, Efagti came into his room. It was just after lunch was served, and most of his family went off to do as they wanted with the rest of the day. Seeing as he was given the scoop on what the man said on his brother's posters, he was fast in doing the spell that'd obscure the ones that he owned that he thought he might find fault with. Except being a little vocal on some of his models, his uncle was very favoring towards how his room was set-up—while the interest was minimal, the man did show an interest in his knives and swords.

Eshal showed Efagti her room after his was seen and then given a tour. Their uncle, while being an adult with her on what she was showing him, had looked a bit bored with the tour that he was given. With Eshal being a girl, and being interested in girl-related things, it was understandable on why he was bored. The room that came off the basement was shown next; Efagti and he, then Efagti, he, and his father, did a round of weight-lifting before calling it a day then going upstairs. When his mother came home a few hours later, both Guyunis and Efagti helped her in making the meal that'd be eaten that night—the fact that Guyunis was so close to Efagti during the process of doing that was astounding! Guyunis had plain refused to be anywhere near the man on the two previous days; while they weren't talking to one another yet, they were glad to see that they were getting along and that no regressions had happened.

While the twentieth started out bleak, it grew into being a rather beautiful day that most of them couldn't wait to be out in. Guyunis went out to spend some time with Giovanni and some of his friends, while Hazaar went out with Efagti. Lazeer was the only one of them to be having a solo-outing—what he was doing none of them knew; before leaving the house, he was given ample warning of what'd befall him if he was discovered as doing something illegal, or not allowed by their peers. Only he, Lhaklar, Eshal, and their father were home; with it being a Tuesday, their mother was at work.

While their father was inside, cleaning the stove after accidentally making a mess on it, he and his siblings were in the backyard.

"They're rather pretty." Eshal said of the Red-tipped Photinias, that were to either side of the semi-circle of yellow-flowing Guayacan trees.

"Just one of the more known and yard-planted foliage out there." Lhaklar said.

"Do they stay that color after they bloom, or do they lose it after a while?" Eshal asked.

"The leaves turn a glossy green color as they age; the newer, fresher growth is red, and is what you're seeing." Bile said.

"Oh," Eshal seemed disappointed. For only two seconds, that was. After getting over her disappointment, she went past the trees; it wasn't until after she was halfway past the trees when she stopped then questioned what she was seeing. "What's this tree?"

Since he was busy in taking advantage of the shade that was coming from the Guayacan trees, which he was lying in the middle of, he let Lhaklar go see what she was asking about. While there was a bench behind him—one of them stone-made types, that had accent legs—, he found himself as wanting to lie on the grass. Along with being calm and peaceful, he had a mind to take the joint out from his pocket then smoke it. If not for his sister, and father, he would of done so; seeing as they were nearby, and could see him, he decided to leave it where it was. Later on, he promised himself, he'd smoke it.

The one Tilia cordata, or small-leaved linden, sat just before the boundary line of the house's backyard. While it was a new tree, of an estimated five to six years, it was rather branchy and leafy. Its leaves were small; they were also heart-shaped, mostly hairless, and green. The small flowers, that were on them, were white; they were intermingling among the leaves.

Lhaklar and Guyunis were frequent users of that tree. Whenever the weather was nice, and they had nothing of real interest to do, they took a book from their collection then went outside; they sat then leaned against the tree while reading what they had on them. Hazaar was one to use the semi-circle as the place where he rigged his turtles' exercise area in; he had yet to use the rest of the yard for that purpose. On the days where the weather was nice, and where he had or could find nothing to do, he came out then either lay where he was or climbed the Linden then sat on one of its branches.

Since he made the decision to not go to any sort of civilized setting—a building, where specific stuff was sold in, meaning—, he was staying home today. Lhaklar, from what he heard a few hours ago, had plans to take Efagti and Eshal to the mall where he "worked" at. Seeing as he and the old man were to be the only ones at home in a few hours, he had a mind to break open one of the games that were compatible with one of the house's game consoles then invite him to play it with him for a spell before going upstairs to dive into the model that he bought on the eighth.

"I'm speechless when it comes to what I'm seeing on that box's lid." his father said after the model was removed from its bag then handed from one member of his family to the next.

"Dude, can I buy this from you af-k-ter its built?" Guyunis asked after his turn came to hold the model.

"No, 'cause he won't have a chance to build it before selling it." Hazaar had an evil look on his face that nearly all of them laughed at.

Even though Hazaar was there when he bought it, he still had to say something on the subject of who was to "buy" his model either before or after it was built. On the first of the month, immediately after getting his allowance, he went to Amsterdam for his monthly supply of pot; upon coming back, he saved the rest of what he had. He spell-sent—stole; yes, he, the oldest son of Angel Irene, stole from a store—his monthly magazine editions home a few hours later, which saved him the €15 that he had left. With the money that he made after going to the flea market in Karlsruhe, he found himself as going from being on the brink of being near-poor to rather rich in nothing flat, so a few splurge-trips could be done without his running the risk of being poor for the rest of the month. While in the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center, he came across a few things that he couldn't bypass—the model of the headless horseman, that was holding a severed head, and astride his black steed, was cool but the diorama of the 4071 film, Fetish, was even cooler. Fetish had a huge audience of both mid-teenagers and adults watch it on its debut; it was still a fan-favorite to that day. He saw it about a week after it was put in theaters; like with the others that watched it, he was a big fan of it. The model's box depicted the scene where the skeletalized race of under-Earthlings were being "documented" by the three humans who found a way into their odd realm—the dark and bleak crater was surrounded on three sides by mountainous peaks; there was a collection of bones before the side that had no peaks on it, and there were these two, bovine-like skulls on either end of them; and there were a bunch of rather busty, and near-naked, skeletal-like beings either dancing, kneeling, or moving about the village-like setting that was positioned to the crater's far back corner.

While the box didn't include the humans on its depicted image, three human-like figurines were in it. He made sure to put them near the one bovine-like skull—in the movie, the humans, wearing something akin to astronaut suits, had used the very salty, chemical and acid-laced "ocean" that sat before the settlement to get there; they stationed themselves before one of them skulls right after leaving their rubber raft.

"Need to get yourself a copy of that movie." Lhaklar said after giving the model back.

"It's always listed as being "out-of-stock" in the stores that I go in, so I can't get a copy of it."

The Fetish diorama was done in five days time; he had yet to get to the headless horseman model. He was honestly holding onto it for when an especially rainy day came around—after building it, he hoped to watch some of the many movies that revolved around the figure that it was based on.

"And no one's allowed to lay a finger on either the diorama or horseman model. They can look, but they can't touch." Bile thought while gathering himself up from where he was.

While Bile gave the back of his pants a quick brushing with his hands, she was taking notice of the movement that was happening under the yard's one bench. Lhaklar had spoken on both the tree and other things that she saw and then asked about before making the motion to go speak with one of the Klied girls; if not for her assumption of his having a crush on the older of the girls, she would of thought that he was trying to put some distance between them by feigning his interest in wanting to talk to one of the neighbors. Seeing as she was all alone in the yard, she back-tracked to where Bile was; she was just going towards him when the grass underneath the bench parted and something that looked oddly colored was seen.

Except for Guyunis, who was experiencing one of them periods were he was being both rude but not really rude at all, all of her brothers had accepted their uncle's company. She couldn't help but be proud of them—if her brothers were this good in accepting Efagti then, maybe, when the rest of the Ubalki clan saw them, or came over for a short or lengthy stay, they'd do the same with them. She was very aware of how the Surfeit side of her family was, so she knew that the meeting and then company-attending with them wasn't to be done as quickly as with the Ubalki's.

The Surfeit members of her family were a little more headstrong and mouthy. They also got to thinking that they knew everything that happened in either life or child-raising. A few years ago, when they came over after receiving their accidentally sent invites, her mother and brothers weren't as open or stress-free with them. With everyone in the Surfeit side of her family jumping at them for how they lived their lives, and with most of their children bullying her brothers, things went from being very cool and pleasant to stressful and annoying. Her father had sure had enough of it and, really, so had she. She was really grateful to her father for the talk that he gave her—she was turning into one of them, surprisingly. Instead of acting like a normal big sister, she was acting like a spoiled brat and bad sister.

While she still thought that her brothers were too into their porn-stuff, and shouldn't be smoking at their age, and should limit their time in being away from home, she didn't voice it anymore. The same on her not thinking but so much on it. She was giving them the privacy that she should of given them from the start.

"Can't be a cat, or puppy—too small." she thought while edging past Bile.

While going towards the thing that was moving in the grass, which did need to be mowed here and soon, she thought about the trip that she, Lhaklar, and Efagti were to take in a few hours. Along with looking forward to going to the mall where her brother worked at, she was looking forward to seeing the store where he worked at and then seeing and meeting his boss and some of his co-workers. Her brother's boss was a near-constant caller of the house; while he spoke mostly to Lhaklar, he had spoken once or twice with their father. It did seem legit on where her brother was earning his paycheck from, which was a load and a half off her and her father's shoulders.

No more worrying about where the money for the bills was coming from, or where Lhaklar was getting the revenue that he was putting in the envelope. His paycheck was normal, as were his hours, and it did seem that his boss was very straight-forward and nice. She was very glad for the latter—the last she wanted was for her baby brother to be working for some slob, or for someone who was constantly yelling at the ones who worked for him.

Lhaklar no longer had to worry about giving most of his paycheck to their mother for when the bills needed to be paid—with their father helping in paying them, he could now spend what he earned on himself. While he was keeping most of his paycheck, she had yet to see him spend more than twenty or so dollars of it. As always, he spent most of his allowance on the first week of the month; he either limited his spending during the rest of the month or did the occasional buy thing whenever something of interest was seen or an activity was going on that required a certain amount of funds to be used to get in.

"What is..." she lunged after getting to within a foot of the bench. While Bile made a sound behind her, he didn't go to her aid or see what was up. She was just sticking her hand under the bench, and was just touching something that was both bristly, warm, and definitely on a living body, when Lhaklar came into view. Her brother was coming towards her when she suddenly issued a small gasp, then scream, then pulled back.

Bile reached her before Lhaklar did. He checked her hand for injuries, then gave the bench a simple glance, then looked at her. Lhaklar, on the other hand, walked past then went right to where the bench was. After dropping to his knee, he reached under it then pulled out this odd-looking thing that resembled something that was on one of her brothers' video games—while not a big fan of playing them boy-games, she did have a small fancy for watching Lazeer play Super Mario Bros; the creature, that her brother pulled out from under the bench, looked very similar to one of them enemies from the game that had spikes on its shell... only, this thing didn't look to possess a shell on it.

The creature was between five and six inches long. The sense of her feeling something bristly while reaching under the bench was confirmed when she saw that its back and sides were covered in spines—which didn't look to be very sharp, or fazing Lhaklar any. When she came closer to it, she saw it was all "tucked" into itself. After a few minutes passed, and the animal was placed on the ground, she saw it stick its long, pointed head out; it had very short legs, that she was only barely able to see, and there looked to be no tail on it. The color of the spines was very "blonde", which she did find herself as liking, while the seeable underparts looked to be white or cream. The last thing that she noticed was that it had black eyes.

What was this cute creature? Was it one of the area's local animals, or someone's pet that got loose then wandered into her family's yard? Was it dangerous, or friendly? She was wondering these questions and more while reaching forward to both stroke and pick the animal up. While the animal rolled itself into a ball after she picked it up, it didn't stay that way for long; once it was on her lap, it unraveled itself then started crawling around.

"Go get a box." Bile said to his brother, who had since relocated to being slightly behind him.

While their father questioned his quick entrance to the house, he found himself as being a bit too shocked to answer him. There were a few boxes in the basement, which came from either produce or the things that he and his brothers bought over the months; he picked one of the bigger ones up then went back upstairs. The old man, instead of asking him what was going on, followed him to nearly the sliding glass patio door before stopping, shrugging his shoulders, then going back to the table.

When he returned to where Eshal was, he found that she was still fooling around with the animal that he removed from under the bench. While he had never seen a color variant of this type of hedgehog before, he wasn't all that interested in it; Eshal, on the other hand, seemed to be more than a little enamored with the animal. While she was quiet, she was also acting in a very gentle way with the animal—he saw Bile's reason in the box needing to be retrieved right after returning to where they were.

After placing the box beside his sister, he took the animal from her then went to put it in it. He was about to remove his hand from the animal when he decided, just for the hell of it, to check it for a gender—with the weather shaping up, the animals were coming out of hibernation. They were both replenishing themselves and looking for someone to make the next generation with. Once he saw what one would perceive as a belly button, he nodded his head then put it in the box. Eshal, at once, stood up, hugged him, then grabbed the box; she rushed it to the house as quickly as she could.

"Oh boy, what have we gotten started?" Lhaklar said aloud.

"Good question, but we made for one happy sister." Bile returned while going towards the house.

Hazaar and Efagti came back from their trip to the park. According to their brother, Efagti was very enthusiastic about flying the helicopter that he owned; after they used the helicopter, they took out a baseball then threw it between themselves before deciding to get an ice cream then come home. Lazeer walked in about fifty minutes later; judging by the armload of snacks that he had in his arms, he went to see a movie—later on, after everyone was calm, and supper was consumed, Lhaklar would discover that the snacks were just a thing to get everyone off his back on what he really did that day... which was visit the hole that was in the side of the Rheinschule and then do a little, behind-their-mother's-back, hunting.

The trip to the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center was postponed for nearly five hours after Eshal came in with the hedgehog. Along with showing it to their father, she named it then started going on and on about how she needed to go to the town's library—he took her there, then waited until she was done in finding the material that she wanted to find, then brought her back to the house. Eshal was fast in making out a list of things that she'd need for her pet while at the library, and she was also fast in tallying what she had left of her allowance; after finding herself as being a little low in funds for her new pet—a little low was an understatement, since she spent all but five euros in the superregional center that was in the nearby town of Durmersheim on the fourth—, she went to ask their father for some cash.

Their father, rather surprisingly, seemed to be against her having the animal that she brought in. Along with saying how the animal needed to be returned to where it was found, he refused to give a coin of his money to her for any of what she needed for her pet. Seeing as the man was being so mean in regards to the animal, he fronted Eshal €60 then said that she didn't need to pay him back.

The old man was, naturally, flabbergasted at his generosity. Along with being against her having the animal, he was also against Eshal being taken anywhere near a petstore. Efagti, while shocked over the funds that he gave to Eshal, was happy with what he did; he also seemed to like the idea of Eshal having a pet.

About thirty minutes before he, his sister, and Efagti went to Karlsruhe, Bile pulled him to the side then said that he was planning on spending some time with the Klieds, Carvers, and Abbings while they were at the mall where he was said to work in. When he questioned him on why he was doing this, his brother responded by saying that he might as well talk to the neighbors while checking their yards for a "companion" for their sister's pet. He asked no more after this was said. At around one in the afternoon, he gave his brother the signal that he was leaving the house; he collected the ones who were to go with him then did as he signaled he was. He and his two tag-alongs were teleporting to Karlsruhe when Bile left the house via its back door.

"Whoa! This is Karlsruhe, and the place where your father says you and your brothers sometimes go to sell what you find at the dumps that you ransack?" Efagti said after they appeared in the center of the city.

"Yep. Very old city, but holding up well." Lhaklar answered.

"Looks a bit tacky to me," Eshal said.

Of course, to his sister, who knew none of its history, it _would_ look tacky. With it being over two thousand years old, it was one of the oldest cities in Germany; Karlsruhe was founded by Charles III William, who was the Margrave of Baden-Durlach in the 1770's, on June 17, 1715. According to the book that he read, it was founded after a dispute occurred between the citizens of Mr. William's capital, Durlach.

The city was made to look very similar to the construction of the Karlsruhe Palace. A palace tower was in its center with thirty-two streets radiating from it like the spokes of a wheel, or ribs of a folding fan. Due to the city's layout, travel was only possible along the radial streets and the circular avenues that were around its center. The city's center was the oldest part of town—it lay south of the palace in the quadrant defined by nine of the radial streets. The central part of the palace ran east-west, with two wings, each at forty-five degree angles, directed southeast and southwest or parallel with the streets making the boundaries of the quadrant defining the city's center. The market square was on the street that ran south from the palace to Ettlingen. The town hall, or Rathaus, was to the west of the market square; the main Lutheran church, or Evangelische Stadtkirche, was to the east of the square; and the pyramid-style tomb of Margrave Charles III William was in the center of the square.

Thanks to the placement of the town hall, church, and tomb, Karlsruhe was considered as being one of Germany's three-known neoclassically styled cities.

The area north of the palace was park and forest. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, founded in 1825, Wildparkstadion, and many residential areas covered the area east of the palace, where gardens and forests use to be. Even though the city was two thousand, three hundred, and eighty-six years old, and had seen more than two wars, most of the streets that were built in 1715 were still around.

Along with having an oil refinery to the south, and a zoo to the east, the city had several museums, parks, and libraries in it. Tourists, while wanting to see the city for its ancient splendor, were fast in going to the two shopping areas—both were big in size and offered a lot of stuff to the ones who decided to visit them.

"I've seen a lot of cities in my life, Lhaklar, but never of this volume before." Efagti said while positioning himself behind Eshal and he. "What part are we in?"

"Where the two shopping centers are." Lhaklar replied. "The one behind us is the Kaiserstrasse—after the third World War, it was combined with the Post Galerie Shopping Center."

"The what?"

"There use to be four shopping centers here. After the third World War, the Kaiserstrasse was combined with the Post Galerie Shopping Center and the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center with the Südliche Waldstraße."

"Did the humans have a reason to do that?" Efagti asked.

"Yeah. After the war, the Kaiserstrasse and Post Galerie Shopping Center were combined to save money on repairs. The combining of the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center with the Südliche Waldstraße was based on the humans wanting to save space, resources, and money on building and street repairs."

The two shopping centers took up a span of three miles. They were evenly divided, with the Kaiserstrasse taking up a mile and a half of the street and the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center taking up the rest. Kaiserstrasse's mall was found to be damaged after the third World War; after the war ended, and repairs were underway, it took a little while to repair it. Even though it took two to three years to repair it, it was still going strong today. So were the other shopping venues.

The Kaiserstrasse was the more visited of the two shopping centers; this wasn't based on it being the better of the two shopping areas, or on it being a bad place. It was packed with retail outlets, shops, cafes and snack bars, and restaurants; the mall was situated in the middle of this. The Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center had nothing but shops featuring items like handcrafts, furniture, designer products, bike gear, sailing and outdoor equipment, clothing, jewelry shops, cafes, and restaurants in it; unlike the Kaiserstrasse, the mall in this section of the center was near its start.

What made the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center not like the Kaiserstrasse was the fact that it had a section of nothing but bars and strip joints in it. They were all located in its center; they boasted a questionable clientele that some didn't want to be associated with.

Due to the mall being close-by, he didn't have to worry about his uncle or sister seeing the strip joints or bars. He just led them to the towering, mirror-glass building that was two to three buildings down the street.

"And here I thought the superregional center in Durmershiem was big!" Eshal came close to exclaiming after entering the building.

The building had at least four or five levels on it, and was very uniform in design. The mirrored-glass exterior wasn't present on the inside; instead, the walls were a painted blue color from the middle on down while, from the middle on up to the ceiling of the next level, they had scale-like, blue wall tile on them. Arctic blue vinyl flooring was under her feet. The air was very rich with excitement, and there looked to be more than four koisks lining the middle of the hall that she, her uncle, and Lhaklar were on. She couldn't help but smile, or go towards the hologram image of the building's interior; after taking all of what was in the building in, she grabbed one of the booklets from the available table that was under the hologram then went to the first petstore that she saw.

While her hedgehog was small, she didn't want to put him in a cage that was a little over double the size that he was. After she entered the petstore, she searched for the aisle that the cages were on then set to work in finding one that felt right. In five minutes time, she settled on a three-foot long wire cage, that had a foot and a half long second level on it; this cage, while made of metal, had a white coating on it that'd protect her pet from consuming any elements that might harm him. The plastic tray, that was on its bottom, would help her in the cleaning process. With there being a ramp leading down from the second level, her pet would have ease of access to where his food, water, and some of his toys were.

After picking the cage out, she went to look at the beds. It was an almost instant thing that she took up the felt-interior, suede exterior, pocket cozy bed; a few toys were picked next before she saw and then took up the fleece-covered tunnel, that was on the same shelf as they. The next item that she found was the last one that she picked from the store. It was one of them eleven-inch, blue-colored bucket wheels—her pet would need to exercise during the periods when he was in his cage; why not get him something that he could do this with?

This all amounted to €75, which was over her budget. She was about to return the toys when Lhaklar stepped forward; he slid some of the money that had on him towards the cashier then gave her a smile. If not for their being out in public, she would of grabbed him in a hug. After buying what she found in the store, she spell-sent it to where her family were staying then started looking for another store to buy some stuff from that'd benefit her pet. Before going far, a hand landed on her arm; upon turning, she found that Lhaklar wasn't only behind her but was also sliding a few bills her way. After counting what she was given—€125; again, she struggled to not choke him in a hug—, then thanking her brother for his second-given generosity of the day, she led both he and their uncle to the next store.

The bedding, a mushroom-shaped and colored hide, some treats that were said to be specifically for hedgehogs, a water bottle, a ceramic food bowl, and some more toys were purchased from the next store.

"Think that's it." she announced after the second allotment of pet-care items were purchased then sent to the house.

"Yoswi will be more than happy with what you've bought for him." Efagti said.

She wished her brother and uncle well after saying that she wanted to get home to get Yoswi's cage fixed up, then him in it, then teleported. Lhaklar, seeing as his sister didn't get any food for her pet, went out of his way to buy her some dry cat food that was mostly meat and had little meat by-product in it—before buying the two bags of food that he found, he checked the fiber, protein, and fat content; according to the book that Eshal looked at in the library, hedgehogs could eat dry cat food but only when its protein content was higher than 30%, its fat content no greater than 12%, and its fiber being at 10 to 12%. Since there was chicken, turkey, beef, and pork in the fridge, he didn't buy any of that—hedgehogs were known to eat them types of food too. The same went with fruits and vegetables.

Eshal might hate him for this but he also got her more than five of the big cans of dried bug mixes—they consisted of meal worms, wax worms, and beetles; the book at the library said that these could be given to a hedgehog as treats. That was why he purchased them.

Following these purchases, he spell-sent them to the house then led his uncle to the store where he was said to work at. With it being on the building's second level, and with their being close to where a set of escalators were, they did and didn't have to do any lengthy walks to get to it.

"Along with having a bit of energy to yourself, you're a good little brother." Efagti said after they left the escalator then went halfway down the hallway that it was on.

"Think the energy comes from me being a teenager, the rest comes from me wanting my sister to be happy and content." Lhaklar replied.

While on the way to the Shoe Bot, they came across a bookstore that looked to have a good collection of books in it. With his sister having an animal that she was virtually clueless on, and with his only knowing what was seen in that book in the library, he decided to put a stall to going to his supposed place of work. Efagti, along with following him into the store, followed him as he went down the aisle that said it had animal and pet-related books on it. He also watched as he took more than five of the books on hedgehogs down from the shelf that they were on. €30 was spent on them; after they were bagged, he and his uncle left the store then went to where the Shoe Bot was.

The Shoe Bot was as its name said it was. A shoe retail store, where more than enough varieties of shoes were sold to the masses. If he had actually adhered to his mother's order in going and getting a job at a regular store, the current salary that was accepted nowadays would of brought him around €40 a workday; after the week, and follow three to four days of the following one, was done, he was suppose to bring home €280, which was pale in comparison to what he was actually making at his real job.

He led his uncle around the blue and lime green carpeted store, that had pale green and blue painted walls, for a short while before giving him the quick slip then going to find the man who was said to be his boss. Efagti, who was currently absorbed in what was being offered on one of the shelves, never noticed that he was gone... but he more than noticed that he was coming towards him with a stockily built man who had curly, brown hair and gray eyes a few minutes later.

"Hello," his uncle said to the man.

"Hello there. I'm told that you're his uncle. You sure that I was mis-told your connection to my employee—look a bit too similar to him to be called a plain uncle." Horst Klenz returned.

"Funny, but quite flattering, mister. The only connection that we have is in his father's mother. I have a different father than his." Efagti returned.

"Really? Well, that mutter of his fader must be putting out some fine stuff because you're rather attractive. Course, so is Mr. Surfeit." Horst, who he knew was very gay, but pleasant to just about everyone who wandered into the store, or came up to talk to him, gestured at him.

"Thank you, sir, and I do believe that the ladies see the same." Efagti must of noticed the man's orientation, because he was fast in noting what he was.

"Can't stay long, but just wanted to say hello and say a few words with you." Horst shook Efagti's hand before turning to look at him. "Mr. Surfeit, you have a good day now, and don't forget to come in for your scheduled time tomorrow. With Lena not coming in, we'll be short a hand and will need some help in restocking the shelves and manning the cashiers."

"Thank you, and I'll be here."

They spent around twenty more minutes in the mall before going home. Along with showing his uncle around, he bought a few things for himself and watched as his uncle did the same in the stores that either caught his fancy or they went into. After appearing before the house, then going in, they stopped; from the sounds of things, a sort of commotion was going on between Eshal and their parents in the kitchen.

After moving past the door, then going into the living room, he placed the bags that he had on him on the coffee table. Once that matter was squared away, he went to where the ones who were bickering among themselves were. While on the way to the kitchen, he noticed that his uncle was going up the stairs; he guessed that he wanted to put his purchases in either his room's dresser or suitcase before grabbing his cellular then calling his parents to tell them what he witnessed in the mall. Once he was in the kitchen, he noticed that his father looked displeased while his mother looked happy and very insistent on something.

Bile was in the dining room, and had a better than good seat to watch what was going on. Along with being seated at the table, he had Kurt Klied and his oldest daughter, Petra, with him; it looked like they had glasses of lemonade in front of them, which were barely touched. After noticing them, then moving to the side ever so slightly, he saw that there was a small, cardboard box on the counter bar. His curiously having been piqued by that box, he stepped forward to see if he could both see what was going on and add his two cents to it, or take the side of one who was involved in it.

"I see no problem in her having two, Tazzy. Better for the one that she already has... it'll also teach her responsibility on certain things." Angel said to her husband, who seemed to be steadfast on their daughter not having the animals that she just acquired as pets.

"With us moving in less than two months, her having a pet shouldn't happen right now." TazirVile said.

"I see no issue in her having any sort of animal before a move is done. She's set-up on Moas, and will continue as she usually does when we get there, so her having a pet or two shouldn't complicate things."

"While I understand why she wants to have a pet, I can't understand why she wants one now. And why one of these animals, when she can get one from a store that's been captive bred and specifically created or domesticated for life in a home."

"And what's so wrong in her wanting to give a small, wild animal a home? Hazaar and Lazeer have done so, and you've not spoken a word on what they own." Angel pointed out.

She clocked-out about twenty minutes early, so she was able to get in just in time before her husband told Eshal to put the animal that was just brought in out. From what she was able to gather from her daughter, who was next to emotional over what was happening, Lhaklar pulled a blond-colored hedgehog out from under the bench that was in the backyard; she fell instantly in love with it. Along with wanting to keep it as a pet, Eshal went with her brother and Efagti to one of Karlsruhe's malls then did some shopping for it. The animal had a better than adequate cage, furnishing for that cage, and food appropriate for it; while the owner would have ample help in the animal's care, her father wasn't happy with the choice of pet that she took on. He was also not happy with how one of his sons had "dragged the issue to what it was now".

She was proud of Lhaklar for helping his sister in fronting her the cash for what she needed for her pet and she was also proud of Bile for going out of his way to find another hedgehog to keep the already present one company. Guyunis, Hazaar, and Lazeer, while not helping their sister any on her pet, had given her the support that she needed to face up against the one who was out to rid her of her pet. Along with interacting with the animal, they agreed that the name of Yoswi was a good one for him.

Of the ones in her house, she was only miffed at one. Efagti, she was told, was also for Eshal having the animal as a pet; his brother, on the other hand, wasn't. She was no more ten minutes home before finding herself as being thrust into a brawl; while this was annoying to her, and while there were witnesses to what was happening between her, her daughter, and her husband, she was standing very firm on her decision to let Eshal have the two animals that were in her care.

Bile spent more than an hour in the yards that were owned by the Carvers and Abbings. From what she gathered from him, he looked in them yards for a female hedgehog to keep the male company before making the decision to go to the Klieds. After approaching their neighbors, he asked if he could look through their yard for the animal that he was searching for; after hearing that he could, he found himself as having someone to help him in his chore. It took about thirty minutes of searching before the animal in the box was found. The animal was of the female gender; while its face was half-dark, its body was mostly white. It had just two or three dark patches on its back and sides. Like with the first animal, Eshal was instantly smitten with it—the name of Elassi was just picked for her when Tazir came along, saying that Eshal couldn't have it or the other one that she was all set-up for.

"Leave the animals be, Tazir. I'm only going to say it once before getting angry with you—Eshal has the same rights as her brothers in being able to have a pet." Angel said, effectively closing the matter.


	30. Chapter 30

"All over a hedgehog, that she wanted to keep as a pet?" Letta Carver said after hearing what she did from her neighbor.

Kurt Klied, who was closing in on when he needed to be at the hospital, nodded his head. After witnessing what he did on the twentieth, he was close to saying that the calm in the air was close to being over. Angel Irene and her husband had sure been in a big disagreement over them two animals that their daughter wanted to keep, and Mr. Irene, as he and some of the people on the street called him, had sure been fast in mentioning the time when his family was to be moved from the planet. All while he and Petra were in the house, they watched as the two warred on the two animals, and on whether their daughter could keep them. Eshal was tottering on the edge of crying during their fight; if not for the newcomer to the house, who, except for the color of his eyes, looked more like Hazaar's fader than Mr. Irene did, she would of gotten hysterical over her fader's apparent dislike of her wanting a pet and apparent favorism towards her bruders.

He and his family had just come home from a trip to Rastatt when Bile asked if he could search their yard for a hedgehog. After hearing why he wanted the animal, he gave him permission to do so; he and Petra decided to help him in finding one almost immediately after he started his search. In his mind, the family could take on as many hedgehogs as they wanted—there were plenty running around, they were a pest, and it wasn't like they were doing wrong in taking one or two on as a pet. Whenever a tourist came to Germany, then saw the animals, they took them up then took them home as a sort of souviner. To the people who weren't local to the country, or to the countries where the animal was also said to roam, they were cute while, to the ones who lived in Germany, Spain, and parts of France, they were a nuisance.

Mr. Irene, even after being told this, didn't listen or back down from wanting to discard the two animals. In the end, Miss. Irene had to get blisteringly mad at the man to make him back off and then decide that she was the one that they were to go by. He and Petra went home about ten minutes later; they told Mitzi and Sarah what happened right after stepping through the door. On a guess, he thought that Petra told Kirstin, who probably told her parents and friends what happened.

Along with making the trip to the Carvers' property to say hello to Letta, who was also getting ready for work, he wanted to see if she and her husband knew of what happened between their neighbors. From what he could tell, Letta didn't know what happened; with this being known, he guessed that her husband and children didn't know either.

"Hear anything from them since then?" Letta, who was in her car, asked.

"No, but seen plenty of them. Mr. Irene's still collecting the mail, the boys are still going out to do their usual during the peak daylight hours, and the girl is being seen as making her rounds of the yards. She's also been seen in town. Miss. Irene's still going to work too." Kurt replied.

"Almeric and I have noticed that there's someone else living in the house. A tall, dark blue alien who looks to have a small resemblance to Miss. Irene's husband." Letta said.

"Yes, he was introduced to me and Petra before we left. His name's Efagti... he's said to be Miss. Irene's husband's bruder."

"He nice, or something similar to our neighbor's husband?"

"As far as I can tell, he's the opposite of her husband. Seems to be very surely, mature, presentable, and predictable."

"That's good. It'd be a shame to have two of her husband in that house." Letta said while starting her car up. "I apologise but, if I don't go now, I'll be late for work."

He let her go then went to his own car. The act of his shoving off for work occurred two minutes later; while on the way to the hospital, he thought about the man who was introduced as his neighbor's bruder-in-law.

Mr. Ubalki, as he called himself, but Efagti after his older bruder came in to say what his given name was, was as he said he was. He felt no negative feelings after being introduced to him, and the man was very open to both speaking with him and disclosing certain bits of his life. He learned that he lived with his parents in another galaxy, that he had no job, and that he wasn't married or had any children. Even after learning the latter, he still thought that he had an uncanny resemblance to Hazaar—the skin color was what gave him this idea, while the act of the man looking to want to be around Hazaar when he and his daughter were at the house was the cementing part of it. Efagti was said to be seen in Karlsruhe three days ago with Lhaklar, and he was also said to be seen with Hazaar in Elchesheim-Illingen's one park a few hours earlier; the day following them two sightings, he was seen with Lazeer in Rastatt, then with Bile in Au am Rhein. While no sightings of him occurred the following day, he was seen yesterday—he, Mr. Irene, Lhaklar, and Bile were seen with a group of male teenagers in Rottlichwald, which was the nature reserve in Au am Rhein. The group was using an array of guns to fire at cans and other obstacles that were rigged up on the branches of some of the reserve's trees—there was nothing illegal about this; with their being in a reserve, and firing at inanimate objects, they were fine. Nothing else was seen of them after that sighting occurred.

"Maybe just jumping at shadows, or being too reminiscent of what happened in April and May, but it's still good to be wary of the ones around you... especially when they're not human." he thought.

Unlike some on the street, who were either for or very against the aliens who were taking up residence in the Americas, he and his family were mixed on what was going on overseas. They thought that the people who were taking up residence in the two continents had a right in moving there, and in making friends and living their lives where they chose to move to, but they also thought they were wrong in taking up the homes where human occupants use to live in. While Master Vile seemed to have the right idea going on in making a place where the aliens could live in, he was wrong in evicting people from their homes and then fixing their homes up for the aliens that he threw the doors of Earth's occupation to; the man should of found an unoccupied area, or cleared some area that wasn't claimed by any settlements for them people to live in instead. From what he and Mitzi had seen, there were now a total of twenty alien families in the Americas, with most being in the United States while a small percentage making the decision to move to either Canada or Central or South America—most of these people bypassed the areas that looked to be prepared for them, while four or five took up residence in them settlements. The humans in the neighborhoods that were bulldozed and then prepared for alien occupation were doing more than hissing at them families... While he and his wife sympathized with them, they also thought they should take the hint and move to some other location on the two available continents.

"Some of them look downright frightening, while others have odd appendages. Or lack there of." Kurt thought.

Last night, when one of the new families was shown on tv, he and his wife were fast in barring their daughters from seeing them. The people that they saw had these Gremlin-like heads, that had this bulbous sack on the forehead and crown that didn't look solid; while their eyes were green, and beady, they had a pug-like nose and mouth structure. Most of the creatures' bodies were covered in this coarse collection of blue and white fur that was long in some areas but short in others. Their hands, while having a thumb and two other, long fingers on them, were overly big for the seemingly four foot tall creatures; the legs were oddly muscular, while the torso and waist were half-stout. What caused him and his wife to bar their daughters from seeing them was the fact that they had this testicle-looking thing hanging from beneath their jaw.

Sarah was fast in voicing her disgust when she saw the next family. The more notable of the aliens, who was obviously of the female gender, had a long, slender neck from which a small, ovular head sat on. Her arms were around a foot and a half in length while her legs were slender and around five feet long; while she had no fur on her, she did have this scale or bone-like flesh-tone to her that was a little dry in appearance. What made Sarah go ew was the fact that her brain could be seen; she also had a network of around six or so tentacles hanging from where her mouth was suppose to be. Them slit-like, light blue eyes of hers had sure had a sad appearance to them, which made both him and his wife feel sorry for her and her family of four—curiously, the mature male of the family was two feet shorter than his wife while the two, younger members were around the size of either toddlers or very young infants.

Nothing really prepared them for what was seen next. He and Mitzi had just sent their daughters to bed, and were thinking about doing the same, when the news showed a clip of one of the alien families that was said to be in South America. He had to clamp his hand over his wife's mouth to keep her from screaming, and he had to force the scream that he wanted to emit down. The people in this third family had pale, translucent skin; they were very skeletal from the chest on down to the waist. Their arms ended in two-fingered hands while their feet were almost like those of a lizard. The head was big, and looked to sit right on the shoulders—it kind of resembled that of a Hybrid Xenomorph... without the skull-like facial structure, of course. Their tv was shut off after they saw the star-like, orange eyes that the creatures possessed. While Mitzi slept last night, he couldn't bring himself to do so—images of that strange family haunted him all night, and robbed him of any chance to sleep.

"My fader was famous for saying how the world around us is always changing... If the other species of the Universe look anything like what me and mine saw last night, we better get ready for the rate that its going in to increase in the next twenty to fifty years." Kurt said after pulling in the parking lot that belonged to the hospital where he and his wife worked at. Due to his wife not feeling well that morning, he decided to take up the spot that she'd normally take at this hour.

As Kurt Klied was looking for a place to park his car in, he and his brother were slowly making progress through a forest that was in central Italy. With what happened yesterday, between him, Bile, Efagti, and their father, he and Hazaar thought that a little hunting was in order. Italy was said to have a good array of animals in it, and they had permission to be here; with the energy that was being expelled from them, he had a feeling that plain hunting wasn't what they were going to do. He had a mind to check the nearby town of Montorio al Vomano out after nabbing an animal or two, and find someone to have a little spin with while doing so, while Hazaar was probably thinking about going to one of the cuisine events that were going on down south of them.

"Should one of us go with them?" Efagti was heard as saying before they left to go to where they were.

"Think they know what to do in the sport that they're to partake in." their father replied.

"You seen them hunt yet?"

"No, but I will one of these days before we leave for Moas."

And he sure hoped that he did. Maybe, after seeing the whole of them working the trade that their mother worked so hard to train them in, he'd let them continue doing it after the move to Moas was done. It'd be nice if they were allowed to continue one of their out-of-the-house activities after the move was done; unless they were allowed to make the occasional trip to Earth every once in a while, he and Bile would have to stop entertaining the ladies, and he and his brothers would have to give up smoking too. While them two things sucked, and while he wasn't looking forward to when they happened, he was holding onto the hope that, somehow, the old man would be lenient with some of the other things that they were allowed to do when they weren't at home.

"Dad cooled down towards Eshal's pets..." Lhaklar thought after stomping his foot, then grabbing the hard, compressed stone spear that shot up from the ground.

Yoswi and Elassi, despite being full-grown hedgehogs, who lived in the wild from the time they were babies to three days ago, were doing as well as they should. Eshal, along with doing her job in taking care of them, had already made her notes from the books that he bought her; at current, she was going back and forth, between the house and the mansion on Moas—according to her, she was making the trips to ensure that there was a place in her room for them, and that she had an adequate supply of food, treats, and toys for them for when they moved from where they were. Just last night, both he, Lazeer, and the old man popped into her room to see how the animals were doing—from what they saw, it looked like their sister was going to need a bigger cage for them and was also going to need to make and then give them the potion that'd give them a longer life and stop them from breeding.

The old man had already "briefed" his staff on Eshal's pets, so they knew that there were to be a few animals that had "spine-like growths" on their backs and sides coming to the mansion soon and that there'd be more than two in the coming months. Surprisingly, the man was already initiating the act of their getting their things ready for the move—a bunch of boxes appeared in the house a few days ago, and they were instructed to start filling them with the stuff that was in their closets; Guyunis, though slow in doing so, was the first of them to fill the boxes that he was given, while the rest of them had their boxes filled in nearly two days time. Judging by the boxes that appeared in the basement that morning, they were to do a repeat on packing something else that was in their rooms.

The matter of whether they were to retain their friends after the move was made was asked last night. Their father, along with being slow in answering it, said that they'd make new friends and that they would cancel-out the friendships that they gained in the months that they were on Earth—this, in itself, told them that they weren't to keep their current friends, or be able to speak or interact with them after the move was done. Maybe they could sneak in a means to keep in contact with them, or sneak in a visit with them after gaining the man's attention on how well they were in the hunt and then being allowed to come to the planet to continue hunting its animals?

"Guyunis was upset over not being able to keep Giovanni as a friend, and Bile's friends were equally upset over hearing that they were to lose their friend too. I've yet to tell my friends that we're to wave bye-bye to our friendship soon, so I don't know how they'll react and the same goes for Lazeer, who hasn't told his friends that he won't be able to keep being a friend to them."

Even though the emotions were being expressed over their not being allowed to keep their friends, their father wasn't budging on what he said. The man had yet to tell their mother that she, too, would be leaving her friendships behind and would be forgetting all about them after the move was done. He guessed that the man was either afraid or nervous of doing so—the two seemed to be getting rather sweet on one another lately, and Hazaar was constantly finding himself as being the referee in splitting them up whenever they were seen as getting affectionate with one another.

"Any further children bore to them might well be raised differently than us, or see us as inferior to them because of our different upbringings." he thought before snapping his mind shut then getting on with the task of finding something to hunt.

All around him was deciduous growth. There were a few rocks and boulders scattered around but, for the most part, he just saw trees and shrubbery. While the shine of a water source could be seen to his left, he didn't go in that direction. Instead, he followed his inner ears to where the sounds of a pig family were. On estimate, there were three to five animals and not all of them were adult. The ground underfoot was a little muddy after a fairly recent rain, so he was picking his way carefully. After going a ways, he jumped then ran towards the animals that he heard and wanted to hunt.

A squeal happened, then a stampede of pigs ran through the undergrowth. Due to the sow charging him, he had to ward her off and quickly; once she was sent on her way, and once his arm had two puncture marks on it from where her small tusks gored him, he threw his spear. It was all over after that occurred. The mother pig went off with her young; even though she was sans one of her piglets, she seemed happy in knowing that the threat had satiated himself. The piglet that he brought down wasn't big enough to accommodate a family of eight plus their guest, so he decided to preserve it as a trophy. He made himself the promise that, if he came across anymore sows with piglets, he'd waste not a second in trying to bring half of the young down—nine piglets would feed all of the people in his household.

The piglet was very small, so it couldn't be anymore than two or three weeks old. While it had an orangey-brown base coat, it also had cream and dark brown stripes on it. After taking his ground spear from its haunches, then finishing the task of offing it, he sent it home then set down to the task of finding something else to hunt.

"Someone must of let their domestic swine loose or run amok the wild ones." he said after coming across another family of wild pigs then successfully hunting five of its piglets. While three of the piglets were similar in color to the one that he brought down around fifteen minutes ago, the fourth and fifth were white and had dark splotches on their sides. After bringing the five piglets down, he spell-sent them home then found himself in a little trouble—another family of pigs was just coming into his area; in order to keep himself from being mauled, he had to kill all of them. Since this family consisted of six piglets, and one sow, he decided that they and what he previously caught was enough in that meat category. He spell-sent them home then got to business in looking for a larger animal that'd say his time here wasn't totally for nothing.

He came across a family of stoats, which he decided to leave alone, then he saw two Beech martins, which looked very similar to the stoats. After thirty minutes passed, and he found nothing in which to hunt that was a large game, he teleported to another location... where his luck was very nearly repeated in until he came across a small herd of wild goats. He readied his spear, then singled one the males out, then threw it before taking in what he came upon—only after the animal that he was aiming for fell did he see what he came upon.

The humans were sometimes famous for letting their eyes wander when their livestock were out in the field, eating grass and getting fat for either the meat market or winter. They were also famous in letting their domestic stock be free-roaming, or just releasing and then washing their hands of them. The animal that he brought down made him think that a species of wild goat had interbred with an Angora goat—his kill had dark yellow to golden-brown fur, that was quite curly; the horns were around forty-four inches in length, gray in color, and, while sweeping back gracefully, also splayed out. If he had to make any guesses, a Bezoar ibex found himself an Angora or curly-haired goat then bred with her, creating two or more kids with her and a sort of new species. After nabbing the goat, he sent it home then smashed his spear to bits. With his weapon of choice dismantled, he took care of his injured arm then teleported to where Montorio al Vomano was then started searching for a date.

For him, the act of finding a date was both easy and hard. Unlike some, who ran up then started making a woman nervous or uncomfortable, he preferred to either look around then approach one who was giving him an interested glance or find someone to speak to, and get to know, before asking if they wanted to spend some time with him. When it came to women, he had a preference for blonde hair and either blue or green eyes; he also liked for them to be tall—along with thinking that tall women were attractrive, he thought that a tall woman would suit him well. After going to a few bars, then making a few passes towards the women of his preference that were giving him a mildly interested look, he found himself as not being very successful in finding a date; he switched to finding a woman of the brown or black-hair variety afterwards, which got better results.

The first woman that he approached turned out to be the one that he fucked. She was around five foot, seven inches; her hair was black and wavy, while her eyes were gray-green. Her complexion was slightly dark; she had a pleasant rack on her that he couldn't keep his eyes from looking at. After spending around ten minutes of talking and learning about one another, he popped the question—Avellina, as she was called, smiled real big then led him from where they were.

He found himself as spending the next hour and forty-five minutes in the back of her car, which was parked near an alley and couldn't be readibly seen. Almost immediately after their date ended, Avellina collected her clothes, then put them on, then looked at him; he took the hint. He clothed himself, left her car, then went on his way—even though his date wasn't the best in the bedding department, he was glad to finally partake in a little female company and get rid of the itch that he wanted to relieve. Once his need for sex was satiated, he went to look for Hazaar.

"Depending on whether he's done with his hunt, he's either in Arista or Pizzoli." he thought after stopping to take in the sight of the Church of San Rocco, which was in Montorio al Vomano's principal city square, Piazza Orsini.

Montorio al Vomano was said to be much older than the church, which was one of its few remaining buildings that were built in the 1500's. In some documents, it was listed as being the old city of Beregra while, in others, it was stated to be on the location where that city use to be. All everyone knew was that the Church of San Rocco was commissioned by the Countess Vittoria Camponeschi; its construction was initiated in 1527. The irregular and asymmetrical façade of the church was built of stone, brick, and plaster; even after the last two World Wars, it still retained this design.

Of the four churches that were here before World War III, only two survived to the present. San Rocco was one of them, while the Church of the Zoccolanti, which was located in the town's historical center, was the other. A record existed that showed the church as being restored in 1755; thanks to this, it was thought to be a lot older than that.

The Capuchin Convent and Church of Santa Maria della Salute, which was founded in 1576, fell to three bombs that were dropped almost squarely on it, while the Church of San Lorenzo, which use to sit on the town's outskirts, was found to be too damaged after the war and had to be demolished.

Even though he wanted to stick around, and take in more of the town's sights, he decided to go on and teleport to Arista. Unless the food in one of the food events that were taking place in the Abruzzo region was better than exceptional, he and Hazaar should be thinking about going home and then taking care of their kills.

The event in Arista was big and looked to be over. He spent about an hour in it before teleporting to Pizzoli then looking for Hazaar there. While the food event in Arista was over, the one in Pizzoli wasn't. While looking for his brother, he took in the sights and bought a few things for both himself and his family.

"Eshal and mom will love these." he thought after buying more than a dozen of the Cannoli tent's fried, tube-shaped Sicilian pastries. He paid special attention to buying the ones that were either filled with a sweet and creamy, chocolate or raspberry filling... which, of course, contained Ricotta cheese in it.

A container of Italian-made meatballs was bought for Bile, then a Calzone, that was especially stuffed with ham, mozzarella, ricotta, and Parmesan cheese, was bought for Hazaar. Two containers of Arancini, a deep fried dish of stuffed rice balls that were coated in bread crumbs and filled with ragù, mozzarella, and peas, were bought for Efagti—there were just six to a container, so he decided to get two to make his uncle's experience in consuming them seem more long-lived. A foam bowl of fish stew, or Cacciucco, was bought for him next then a container of stigghiola, which was skewered and then grilled lamb, goat, or chicken guts that were washed in water and salt, then seasoned with parsley, onion, and other pot herbs, was bought for Lazeer.

Since Guyunis was such a nut for mushrooms, he got him two containers of Italian sausage stuffed bacon wrapped mushrooms—again, with the containers having just six of that dish in them, he decided to buy two to further the experience for the one who they were bought for. He had just bought a foam bowl of Baccalà alla lucana, which was cod and crunchy red peppers known locally as "cruschi", for his father when he saw his brother. After spell-sending the items that he bought home, he went towards his brother then got his attention.

"I should of known." Lhaklar said after seeing that his brother had a container of dipping sauce in one of his hands and three Reggiano Parmesan Cheese sticks in the other.

"Have you ever seen me turn down cheese?" Hazaar asked while giving one of his eyes a wink.

"Nope, so not surprised that you have what you do."

"Surprised that you've not gotten anything while being here." Hazaar said while taking a chew from one of his cheese sticks. "How long have you been here?"

"About twenty minutes, and I did buy something for me. It, along with the rest of what I bought, is home."

"Expect for it to not be there when you decide to go home."

"Got something for everyone, and I think that everyone will know that the fish stew is mine."

"Yuck! Get away from me y'freak."

He made the motion to swipe the items from his brother's hands then pulled back just in the nick of time. While Hazaar threw a few jokes, and told him about his time in the event that he tracked him to, he didn't say a thing on how his hunt went. After a few minutes passed, he picked up an iced peach and cream Italian soda then gave the signal for them to leave. Before leaving, Hazaar grabbed a very berry Italian cream soda then seven more sodas—a blue raspberry, two chocolate, a rhubarb, a mint, a vanilla coke, and a Vodka-induced blackberry vanilla; the rhubard was for Efagti while the one that had alcohol in it was for their father.

They went home after the sodas were purchased. Upon entering the house, they noticed that everyone was in the kitchen and dining room. Except for the Calzone and fish stew, everything that was bought was being consumed by the ones that it was purchased for. Seeing as everyone was busy with their meal, Hazaar set the beverages down then distrubuted them. He found himself as being in a bit of hot water after the alcoholic drink was given to the one that it was purchased for.

"Take it that you consumed something that has alcohol in it while you were at that event." their father said after receiving his drink.

"No." Hazaar answered.

"Don't be savvy with me, son. If you had none, why do you have this?"

"It was a buy then take what you want type of stall where we bought the drinks from. After sliding the funds forward, he grabbed what he thought everyone'd like." Lhaklar aided his brother by offering a very accurate explanation on why he had alcohol on his possession.

"Likely story," their father said more to Hazaar than to him.

"Tazir, if you don't like the offer that's been bestowed on you with that drink then put it down and leave the room." Angel, who, like the wife of their neighbor, wasn't feeling well and decided to take a sick day from work, said.

"If you don't believe either of us then search our memories for what you want to know." Lhaklar said.

"With that being offered, I'd believe them." Efagti said.

TazirVile looked at his brother. The man, who had no children or spouse of his own, should know better than to plain accept any old thing that came from the mouth of a child who has alcohol on his person... and he should also remember that, last year, one the twenty-third of October, his own father detected alchohol on Lhaklar after plucking him from the trunk of the BMW that sat under the house's carport. Now that his second youngest son came home with an alcoholic beverage on his person, he had a mind to not let him go out on his own again. Too much could be happening behind his back with this son of his and, honestly, with Lhaklar having the hint of alcohol on him last year, he had a mind to do the same with him.

Guyunis and Efagti looked to be cool around each other now, which gave him the idea that any further regressions may be small or short ones. While Efagti had yet to go into Guyunis's room, or have any lengthy conversations with him, it did look like they were getting along; Efagti was noted as fooling around with Sabine twice now, and he also spent some time in watching Guyunis build the skeletal motorcycle model, that Guyunis decided to bring down then build in the living room two days ago—he detected no hints of nervousness in him during them three occurrences, which gave him the idea that all was fine with him now.

He learned something about Bile and Lhaklar yesterday, when he, they, and Efagti were in the nature reserve that was in the neighboring town with them other boys. They were good shots, and did, indeed, own BB guns. He and Efagti were nervous after them guns were retrieved from where they were hidden; judging by how Efagti looked, he was about to drop a load in his pants. He about became a woman after them guns were exhumed from where they were, and he also came very close to rushing forward to prevent the boys from using them. Bile and his two male friends set-up the ground or lower branch-based targets while Lhaklar used his Telekinetic powers to hoist the targets that were to hang from the higher branches of the taller trees—he helped his son in tying them off, after seeing that Angus was having such a time in climbing them trees. Once the targets were up, the boys set to work in shooting them.

The humans, while also being good shots, didn't look to match his sons on how to wield and then fire a weapon—on each turn of ten firings, they nicked seven or so targets, while Bile and Lhaklar caught a target on each firing. He couldn't help but be surprised, shocked, and proud of them for their prowess with a gun. A few hours after that experience, he asked for Guyunis, Hazaar, and Lazeer to go to the backyard; a near repeat occurred with them on the targets that he set-up to see if they were like their brothers in how to handle a gun. While Guyunis didn't look to own a gun, all of his brothers did—the boy, when his turn came to fire at the targets, borrowed Hazaar's BB.

Seeing as the boys were so well atoned to their BB's, he said for them to not be returned to where they were previously hidden. At the moment, they were in their protective cases in the basement—on the day that they'd move to Moas, they'd be coming with them.

"Course, that doesn't mean that they'll be using them without an adult being around to supervise them. They'll only be allowed to use them every once in a while too." he thought before the doorbell rang, and two surprise guests were allowed to come in and disrupt the calm that was in the house.

When the foam containers showed up on the kitchen counter, most everyone went forward to inspect them. Guyuns was the first to grab one of them—with the boy being one for mushrooms, it surprised no one that he took the container that had the Italian sausage stuffed bacon wrapped mushrooms in it. When it was noted on there being another container that had that dish in it, he took it too. Lazeer took the container that had something that was both skewered and grilled in it while Bile took the one that had the Italian-made meatballs in it. Angel, who had a little more strength than what she did that early morning, called Eshal over after the container of Cannoli's was seen; he and Efagti were just coming over to see what was in the final four containers when another showed up. He claimed the Baccalà alla lucana quickly while Efagti took the two containers of Arancini—everyone assumed that the Calzone was for Hazaar and the fish stew was for Lhaklar.

While it was nice of the two boys to think of them while on their outing, and while it was nice to have something to wash their food down with, he was still shocked over being given something that was alcoholic, and that his son was sold something that had alcohol in it. Seeing as no one was paying much attention, or giving any concern to Hazaar's action of buying an alcoholic drink, he shrugged his shoulders, retrieved his drink, then continued with the meal that he automatically thought of as lunch.

He was just two bites in on his resumed meal when the doorbell rang.

"Ah man!" Lazeer moaned.

" 'Ah man' will get you the chore of seeing who it is that's at the door." Angel said.

While he wanted to finish his meal, and vanilla coke Italian cream soda, he stood then went to see who it was that was at the door. With it being the hour where the mail was being delivered, he thought that it was the mailman who was at the door. Bile had sent out for two knives last week—one was wrist-worn, and designed to look like scorpion, while the other had a rattlesnake's rattle for a handle and a forged railroad spike for a blade—and Guyunis sent for this custom bone bladed Boline sickle bladed knife just four days ago. They were looking forward to when they got them; he had a feeling that a "fight" would spark between Bile and Guyunis on the knife that Guyunis sent for while Hazaar had a feeling that Lhaklar was going to regret not sending out for the same scorpion-style knife that Bile was expecting to get.

With their mother not feeling well that morning, he opted to stay home and take care of her. Guyunis did the same, while Bile went out to see this knife exhibition that was taking place in the independent city of Pforzheim, which was forty-five minutes from Elchesheim-Illingen. Lhaklar and Hazaar, just after breakfast was served, received permission to hunt in Italy's Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park—they had yet to hear or see a thing of what they caught... but they did see that plain hunting wasn't what they did while being in Italy. He was about to ask them about their hunt when the doorbell was rung and he was given the chore of seeing who it was that rang it.

With the weather looking to be back in order, and with Oktoberfest being scheduled to happen as originally intended, the question on whether they were to attend it this year was asked during breakfast. Oktoberfest was a sixteen to eighteen day event, which typically took place between the third Saturday in September and the first Sunday in October; last year, due to the freaky weather that was experienced, which caused most of October's planned events to be canceled, the people who hosted the event decided to open it up for one night to lighten everyone's moods. The prices of most everything in the fairgrounds were also slashed in half, and admission was free. He, his family, and the Leinarts attended it and had a ball while doing so—er, up to when the old man and his sister came in to ruin their fun, that was.

The old foggy was adamant that they didn't go to it while their mother was willing to make the drive to it. She said that, if they were good between now and October 3, they would go to it. Along with hoping that everyone behaved between now and then, he was looking forward to going to it.

"Don't see why we can't go, or why dad's so against us doing anything that's away from home." he thought before unlocking the door then swinging it open.

He was shocked after opening the door. Instead of seeing the mailman, he saw two men... one who was an assured friend of the family while the other seemed to be a plain friend or associate of his mother's. After seeing the men standing on the door's other side, he gestured for them to come in. He then had them follow him.

"Hope we're not disturbing anything." Mr. Leinart said before entering the dining room. "Just wanted to come over and say hi."

"Not disturbing a thing. Mom's not feeling all that great today, so some of us stayed home to look after her. Lhaklar and Hazaar went to do a little hunting in Italy, and to attend some food event that's taking place there, and Bile went to a knife exhibition in Pforzheim." Lazeer said.

"She feeling better?" Stefan asked.

"Seems to be."

"From what I've heard, your father lives here now." the President of the United States, a man by the name of Horace A. Smith, said. "Is he still here? I'd like to see and speak with him."

"He is, yes."

After rounding the corner, he saw that he and Horace had happened on the family during a meal. While he felt low for barging in at this time, and without giving a fore-warning before doing so, he knew that it had to be done. Things at home were fine, while things at work were tedious, as always, but he still kept up-to-date on things with his friend and her family—someone who was related to them had moved into the house fairly recently, and was said to be staying with them until November came around; he met this person first, right after entering the room that he and the Irene's were in.

Except for being asked if he had any involvement in shooting one named "Qeeta", or having anything to do with shooting one named "Cheshire", he and Mr. Ubalki had a pleasant greeting. After seeing and then having a few words with Mr. Ubalki, he let Lhaklar and Hazaar claim him for themselves.

Lhaklar, after showing him the models that he built that month, spoke on the hunt that he did that morning while escorting him to the basement. He inspected the sow and piglets that he nabbed while being in Italy, then looked at the wild goat before being "dragged" to the basement's other corner. Hazaar was very enthusiastic in showing him what he brought down while being in Italy.

"Lhaklar and I started out together before splitting to hunt on our own. I nabbed this right after we did so." his young friend said while tearing the tarp from the bigger of his two kills.

The Père David's deer was said to be an extinct species in the twenty-first century; over the years, it migrated from its free-given territories to roam abroad, which was why it was sometimes found in Germany, Italy, France, and parts of India. The species, which was semi-aquatic, and seemed to prefer a territory of marshland as its home, was known to breed with other species of deer whenever they encountered a doe that was in heat—what his young friend caught was a hybrid of the Père David's deer and Red deer.

The hooves were like those of a Red deer, but were also cow-like in appearance, while the head was long and slender, like that of the Père David's deer. The eyes were also like that of the Père David's deer—large, and with very big preorbital glands. The nose was unmistakibly like that of the Red deer, while the ears were intermediate between the two parent species. The thin, branched antlers, that had long tines that pointed backwards, while the main beam extended almost directly upwards, were very reminiscent of the Père David's deer.

The coat's color was very vibrant, and was orange to orange-brown. Due to the horns, he knew that the animal was of the male gender but, to further this assumption, he saw that it had a mane on the throat and neck. Running along the base of the animal's back was a black dorsal stripe, which contrasted well with the coat's color. The final thing that he took in on the animal was its tail—on estimate, it was twenty inches long. It had a dark tuft on its end, which made it look almost Donkey-like in appearance.

"I'm getting dad to preserve the head for me." Hazaar said while going to where the other tarp-covered animal was.

He had to choke back the gasp of awe that he wanted to express. The animal that was just exposed was none other than a Babirusa—a prehistoric-looking hog that looked to be bald but really had short hairs on its body. The color was gray, while the length of the body was forty-three inches. The two pairs of tusks weren't tusks but the animal's enlarged canine teeth, which had punctured the flesh of the snout; they were curving back towards the forehead. This species, along with two of the sub-species, use to be found primarily in Sulawesi, Indonesia but, due to human-done introduction in the mid-3000's, they were now found in both its native habitat and Italy, Greece, parts of India, and China.

From what he had heard, the world's only population of Buru babirusa's were in India, and one of the Indonesian islands, while the Togian babirusa was only found in China now. The pig that Hazaar brought down was of the North Sulawesi babirusa species, which was the only species of this type of animal to be in abundance in its territories.

"Damn, Hazaar!" Lhaklar emitted a loud gasp after seeing the animal that his brother caught.

"Yeah, and I'm going to see if dad can get the whole thing preserved as a trophy." Hazaar said.

"Think that's a very good idea to do." Stefan agreed with what was wanted to be done on the pig.

When they returned to the kitchen and then dining room, he was reminded of why he busted his buns to get here. While he wanted to see his friends, he also wanted to be here to prevent any sort of altercations that may or may not happen between "Mr. Irene" and Horace. The North American President, along with his family and many others, took refuge in the underground catacombs and bases of Mount Rushmore last year, after Master Vile got into the shield that was over the Americas then took over them continents; he, along with everyone in them catacombs and bases, became refugees after relocating to Germany. Angel Irene had helped in getting them here, while the government of his country had helped in getting them set-up. Horace knew all about Miss. Irene's husband for a while now but he hadn't made any movements to go see him; after learning that the man, who was very concerned about the people in the United States, was making the trip to see him, he decided to rush over here to both intercept and try to keep him calm towards the man who was "married" to their planet's heroine.

It looked like he came up from the basement just in the nick of time. Horace and the alien man looked to be just starting in on talking to one another. He was fast in going over to supervise the pair.

"So, you're one of the leaders of one of the overseas nations?" TazirVile said after Horace introduced himself.

"Yessir," Horace Alexander Smith, an Italian-looking man who had a high forehead, a pair of full lips, a prominent nose, and high cheekbones, but very American, deep brown eyes, returned.

"How is it that you find yourself here, when my nephew's cut all connection from the western side of this planet off from the east?"

"Wasn't by choice." Horace sounded heated, despite looking very placid in his stature.

"I and mine want no involvement in your mixed emotions on my nephew taking over your country."

"My emotions lie strictly on my people, and on how they're being treated and subjected to forced invasion by races not of this world." for a thin fraction of a second, everyone could see the shine coming from Horace's thinning crown. Like with the hair that was on the top of his head, the rest of his hair was a mixture of brown and gray. It'd surprise a lot of people to know that he was younger than the man who ran Germany; while Stefan was fifty-four, Horace was closing in on forty-eight.

TazirVile stared at the man before him. While he was trying to figure him out, there was something stopping him from doing so. There was anger expressed in his eyes, but there was sadness too. For some reason, he kept seeing the jets that attacked him and his family's camps on January 27—there were seven in all; all but three were manned by humans, while the others were operated by non-humans. One of the jets' pilots was his own nephew, who he had it out with almost immediately after his ship was attacked.

The people in them jets were refugees. From the Americas, it was presumed. Due to Angel being sighted with the humans who met them, some of his staff followed them to one of the hospitals down south of where he and his were. The idea of his seeing one of the people in them jets before didn't strike him until after his conversation with the man before him was done. When it dawned on him on his seeing the man at the dance that his wife was seen at in February, a question formed on his lips. The man before him was fast in answering it.

"Code Red, which was never instated in the course of the United States' existence, was done right after Master Vile was seen as coming towards the capital. All but a few of my official staff made it to where we bunkered down in; after nearly a year passed, we rescued them then made our way here. While we've been treated well, I've been haunted by what's happening with my people." the man, who now seemed to be right humbled, said. "If I may, may I beseech you and your wife's assistance in getting my country back, so I can restore balance and help my people in this trying time?"

"Unfortunately, sir, I can't help you and neither can my wife." TazirVile said. When his wife made a protesting sound, he turned to address her. "Angel, with you being considered this planet's heroine, you should understand, accept, and allow for what's going on overseas to happen. It'll benefit the people of this planet to learn about the Universe around them, and it'd help in bringing their technologies up to par with most everyone else's."

"With Master Vile being in control of the planet's western side, I don't think that'd be achieved." Horace said. "I'll allow for the non-Earthly ones to stay where they are, but I can promise you now that, if you help me in getting my country back to my control, I will close the doors to the rest. There's a right and a wrong way to other ethnic or alien groups moving in among others, and Master Vile is allowing the wrong way to happen."

"With me and mine living in a realm that's under his control, I can't help you." TazirVile said. "Same goes for my wife. See her for your heroine all you want, but she won't be allowed to come between her father and the continents that he has control of. I forbid it."

"Sir—"

"And, with you signing your nation's control to my nephew, you should know that everything that's going on overseas is out of your hands." TazirVile said, effectively cutting Horace off.

"I never signed control of the United States to that man. He and I have never met, or spoken or engaged in any treaty making or signing." Horace was fast in saying.

He gave the man before him a long stare after hearing what he just said. Had he heard the man correctly? That no contact between he and his nephew occurred after the Americas were felled? Vile knew the rules of Galactic Conquest—in order for a proper turnover of control to happen, the former ruler had to sign all rights and responsibilities to his usurper, who both fought a gallant fight for the realm in question and was its new ruler. As far as he knew, Vile did the sign-over with the Dark and Betta Galaxies; the question on whether he did the same with the M-51 Galaxy, which was his first galactic conquest, was still being debated in secret by many, though.

Teluder Kakian, the former ruler of the M-51 Galaxy, was said to be killed in battle, and his family were said to be killed by either a wayward bomb or a group of militants who were in a fighting frenzy—according to the history books, where only one passage was allowed to be written of on the man, his nephew cut a lock of his near-white blond hair from his head after killing him then had it fastened as a trophy. The white-looking tassel, that hung beside the fiery red one, which contents use to be on his wife's head, was said to be made from that lock of hair. With Teluder being killed in battle, and his heir being said to be killed by warfare, Vile could of exercised the right of taking it upon himself to call the realm's crown and control his... but there were some who were as old as he that said his nephew didn't kill Teluder, or that Teluder's only son wasn't killed by warfare.

For some reason, Vile forbade anyone from talking or writing anything about Teluder and his family. The ones who wrote the history books were only allowed to write what they did in that one passage; the rest of what they wanted to write was either forbidden to be included in the book or destroyed. The ones who spoke in public, or were known to talk of Teluder and his family, were typically rounded up, jailed, and then disappeared after an unknown amount of time. He wanted none of that, which was why he didn't speak of the man, or his family; when it came time to teach Eshal, Bile, and Lhaklar their primary lessons during their early kid-years, he mentioned nothing to them about Teluder and his family.

If Vile and this man didn't draw up and then sign something that specified that control and responsibilies were unduly transfered to the usurper, which would be his nephew, then his nephew didn't really own or have control of the American continents. He could say that he "owned" them all he wanted but he didn't really own or have control of them.

"Don't suppose you have a system here where, after the usurper passes, or decides to up and abandon the areas in his control, the oldest descendant of the one who was formerly in control of them areas can come in then assume command?" TazirVile asked. Along with explaining why his and his wife couldn't, and wouldn't, help the man in getting his country back to his control, he explained what he knew on Galactic Conquest; he then explained why he asked what he did.

"People from the olden times did that, yes." Horace said.

"I'd resurrect that practice, teach it to your children, then either in-act it yourself when my nephew looks to be growing bored with the Americas or have one of your children's descendants do it." when the man looked doubtful, he said, "Either that way or no way, sir. I stand by what I said on both me and my wife having no involvement on who has control of what countries, nations, or governments of this planet."

The stay, for him and Horace, ended almost immediately after the man who "married" their planet's heroine dared to say that she, who worked so hard to protect and help them, couldn't and wouldn't be allowed to help them anymore, said what he did on descendant-based return to power. Horace, who looked to be swimming between being raging and very upset, left before him while he was two to three minutes behind him in going home.

In a way, he understood the alien's stance on wanting to protect his family but he didn't understand why he was so against his wife, who was already showing contempt towards her fader, and was still helping the people of the planet by keeping and maintaining the shields that were still over the countries that Master Vile couldn't get in and then change the government of, retaining her position as the planet's heroine. Just yesterday, Angel Irene went to Puerto Rico and then Cuba to strengthen their shields and tunnel networks and, late last night, she visited the Bahamas and then the Hawaiian islands to do the same. While she looked to be a little under the weather now, he had a feeling that she had plans to do something similar with the other countries of the planet that were still protected by her shields.

If anything, this recent visit of his told him that he best fear the man who was his heroine's husband. For all he knew, he might go and take the shields that were still over the non-Master Vile governed countries down just to have his "wife"s hands be washed of them.


	31. Chapter 31

"See her for your heroine all you want, but she won't be allowed to come between her father and the continents that he has control of. I forbid it."

He was haunted by them two sentences for all of twelve hours before deciding to grab his phone then send his father a text. In the course of thirty minutes, they spoke on several topics—mostly on married life in general, but also on how a relationship was handled by both parties. His father, despite being as busy as he was in fighting the people who were still giving him grief over that mine, had done the best of his ability to answer his questions honestly and without giving him a lengthy lecture while doing so.

According to his father, the ones in a marriage, regardless of its sexual source, should be on mutual terms on certain items or situations that occur in the house. If certain differences were noted as being present on areas of home governing, both parties needed to come to a mutual agreement that'd benefit both themselves and the ones that live with them. Over-dominance by a partner could lead to relationship strain, and eventual divorce considerations. One who flexes his or her dominance too much could turn to physical abuse of their significant other, which could lead to confidence and self-esteem issues in that partner plus fears expressed towards the younger members of the household.

While male on female over-dominance was the most known or documented form of probable marital strife, female on male over-dominance was also known to happen. Even though the male-representing party of the marriage was bigger, stronger, and had testicles didn't mean that he "ruled the roost and all that occurred in it" and didn't mean that he had the right to bully his family, or prevent them from doing certain things that'd benefit their raising, give them enrichment, or aid in their socialization.

His father, while sympathizing with Angel, and disagreeing with some of what Tazir said, did seem to agree that Angel needed to step down from being so firm on her duties as the planet's protector and its people's heroine. He also said that she needed to get a re-bearing on how the family was suppose to live under the same roof. In his words, it was long past time for the humans to catch up with the other races in the Universe, and that it may be for the best that what happened with Master Vile taking over the Americas happened—they'd learn how to not be so negative towards other species or races of people, their technologies would advance a lot faster than they are, and they'd be happier, was what the man said.

"And Angel needs to understand and accept that." the final line of his father's final text said.

Even though his father sounded frank, he was still bothered by Tazir saying what he did on forbidding his wife from doing as she was for the last two thousand plus years. After his father's final text was received, he nodded his head then went to bed—at the time of his texting his father, everyone was in bed and asleep.

In the hours that waned after he went to bed, his correspondence with his father was "tampered with". His mother read all of his text messages then phoned Tazir. She got on him for what he said to the United States's president and then for what he said in accord to forbidding Angel from doing something that she's been known to be doing for over two thousand years right after Tazir picked up then said hello. Due to his mother doing this, his brother targeted him on what he should and shouldn't stick his nose in and for his needing to keep what goes under the roof that he's either staying under or owns to himself. Things between himself and his brother were a little on the rocky side on the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth before mellowing down.

"Things with the boys weren't so blissful on them days either... or on the two that followed." Efagti thought while waiting for his nephews to get to where he and their sister were.

During the first few days of his stay with his family, he received a confirmation on how well Angel knew her kids. The same went on how well her kids regarded and obeyed her, and how well they trusted one another. The boys, and Eshal, seemed to jump at her every command; they tried their best to do as they were told too. Since moving in with them, he had only witnessed them back-talking her once or twice. Even though they regarded their mother well, it seemed that the boys either saw their father in a lesser light or didn't regard him with the same respect. Eshal was the only one of the six who gave Tazir the same respect that she gave Angel.

While the start of his stay with his family was pleasant, and he didn't experience or witness any of what Tazir described as either going through or witnessing during the first few months of his stay, he did witness it from the twenty-fourth to the present day.

Lhaklar took it upon himself to act like the "house owner" and "Daddy"-figure after the sun rose on the twenty-fourth. It really all started with Hazaar, who asked their father the simple question of whether he'd be so kind as to send the desired items from one of his kills, and the whole of his other kill, to the man who he did frequent business with in regards to wanting something from one his hunts to be preserved as a trophy. Before Tazir could respond to his question, Lhaklar spoke for him in saying that he could and that he should bring everything that he wanted to be preserved as a trophy up from where it was so it could be sent to be worked on. Surprisingly, Tazir just looked at the boy before turning then saying for Hazaar to do as his brother just suggested. Hazaar's desired trophy items were sent to his brother's associate immediately after breakfast was consumed; Lhaklar, having heard the man's name during the meal, took care of sending one of the more colorful piglets from his hunt, and the head and neck of his Wild Goat, to him—Tazir, after receiving the call on the work on the "tagged animals" not being paid for, paid for it then sought out his son for a quick chat on how to appropriately send items to his associate for preservation, and on how he needed to tell him before he sent anything else that he wanted to keep as a trophy to his man.

A few hours later, Eshal decided to clean her room of its dust and then pack some of her things for the impending move. All of her trinket boxes were removed from their shelf, brought down to the living room, then cleaned and polished before being left to dry on the coffee table. She went down to the basement for some of the boxes that her father stored there afterwards. While she was collecting two to three of the smaller boxes, Lhaklar was both taking note of her things and giving his head a shake; once she was in the living room, a brother-sister verbal brawl happened. Apparently, Eshal asked if he touched them, then said that he "better not have", then her brother came back by getting on her for leaving them where they were. Two to three hours later, a similar occurrence happened after Eshal left some of her room's dolls on the dining room table—Lhaklar, after coming upon them, then looking them over, called her down then got on her for leaving her stuff lying about for someone to "steal". On both occurrences, it took the combined efforts of his nephew's parents to get them to stop bickering and then go their separate ways.

On the twenty-fifth, Bile, Lhaklar, and Guyunis got into a furious rumble in the backyard. While no one knew the reason for the fight, he and Tazir knew what caused the verbal altercation between the three to happen. Guyunis had a lot of models to build and was, apparently, running low on paint and glue; instead of going out to get some with the money that he had, he went to see if he could borrow some from his brothers. Hazaar and Lazeer's stock of paint and glue was getting rather low, so they weren't able to front him any, while Lhaklar both denied him the option of borrowing any from him and got on him for going to his brothers and wanting to use up their model paints and glue when he had the funds to go get some. After learning that Bile gave Guyunis some of his paint and glue, Lhaklar started ranting about how Guyunis needed to be more responsible for keeping up with what he used on his models and how he needed to stop relying on his brothers for when he needed paint or glue for what he was building. A bunch of words were expressed between the three on who was more responsible than the other, and on who had right of say in the house, before the fist was thrown and they started tusseling with one another. It took the combined efforts of him and his brother to separate the three and then send them on their way.

"Guyunis has a hell of a punch to him, and can withstand a lot of abuse..." he remembered Hazaar saying on that day.

Yes indeedy could he! Bile caught the boy three times on the face, shoulders, and stomach before finding himself as being picked up and then thrown to the grass like a boulder. Lhaklar, though managing to dodge some of the blows that his brothers threw at him, wasn't able to dodge the one to the gut, to his broken arm, and to the small of his back. He and Tazir managed to separate the boys after Lhaklar's arm was rebroken, the skin on Bile's brow and left elbow was broken open, and Guyunis sustained an injury to his eye and broke the knuckles on his right hand. Except for Guyunis's eye injury and broken hand, none of the boys wanted their injuries to be treated.

With what happened, and his having to grab and then "man-handle" Guyunis to get him off Lhaklar, Guyunis experienced a regression where he became a very nervous boy for the next forty-eight hours. He was a little better now, but was still acting nervous or apprehensive of having him anywhere near him.

While Lhaklar was still "bossing" his siblings around the following day, there was something else that claimed his, Tazir's, and Angel's attention. Hazaar, who was in the throws of his Temperamental phase, targeted his sister for nothing in particular on that day before turning his attention towards his father, him, and then Lhaklar. Hazaar was given a period of doing nothing for six hours after he did that; the activities that occurred after them six hours were up were reminscent of what happened earlier.

Hazaar, who was still experiencing the effects of his phase, and Lazeer, who was also going through the phase, got into it on three different occasions. It was Angel who calmed them down on the first two offenses, while they got into some hot water with Tazir on the third.

"Nothing really off-setting happened yesterday, or today. Bile and Guyunis received their mailed-for items an hour after lunch was served, then used the phone to get on the mail service for how the boxes that their items were in were so dented and busted up—took a lot for both me and their father to keep the giggles in when they did that."

It was no surprise to anyone that, with the actions of the past couple of days being done, their attendance of that year's Oktoberfest was canceled. Angel was fast in saying no yesterday, when the question was asked by one of the boys; the boys were blue over their not going to the event for a quarter of that day before perking up after Guyunis showed them the flier that he had for the Rhein im Flammen Buchmesse und Rock im Park festival. Bile and Guyunis were around twenty minutes back from their trip to the flea market in Stuttgart when the perking up occurred; along with saying that they made good off the items that they found yesterday in Durmersheim's dump, they said that they were hoping to both go to and use what they gained at the flea market at it.

"Except for the fight that you two had with Lhaklar a few days ago, you've been good so I don't see why I should say no to you going. And don't see why you can't take your sister with you either." Angel said after seeing the flier, then hearing that Bile made €81 at the flea market while Guyunis made €69.

Call him a softie but, while Tazir was in agreement with what was said, he wasn't able to fathom the looks that befell the bulk of the boys after Bile, Guyunis, and Eshal were told that they and only they could go to the event. After seeing what he did on the faces of his nephews, he gave a proposal to Angel and Tazir. The offer of his being a sort of chaperone to everyone, and watch everyone like a hawk, and have them all back by twelve o'clock, was made; while Angel gave her head a nod, then said that his offer was fine, and that all of the boys could go to the event, Tazir was either steadfast or very against Lhaklar, Hazaar, and Lazeer going to the event or having him chaperone them anywhere. In the end, Angel had to both bite his brother's head off then give him a false set of instructions on what to do once he and his niece and nephews were at the stretch of river where the festival was taking place.

While they were still expected to be back at twelve, he was told to not keep "eagle-eyes" on his nephews or have them be with him all while they were at the festival. Once Tazir left the room, to either use his cellular or stew over seeing that his way of things wasn't being adhered, the boys and Eshal were told to stick around him for the first hour to hour and a half of their attendance before branching off to enjoy the event in a solo way.

They arrived at the event at two in the afternoon. Along with playing a few of the games that were set-up in odd stretches of the river bank, and trying to ignore the looks that they were getting, they stayed together as a unit for the time that they were given to do so before the decision to branch off, then enjoy what they were here to enjoy on their own, was made. Of the six children that he accompanied to the festival, only one refused to leave his side or enjoy the event on her own.

"Uncle Efagti, what time is it?" Eshal asked after a group of rowdy human teenagers, who looked to be better than stoned on something, walked by.

"Heading on six." Efagti returned. He was trying his best to not show his anxiety; he used his communicator to call his nephews, and tell them where the rendezvous point was, nearly ten minutes ago and none of them had shown up yet.

"They should of gotten here by now." Eshal moaned.

"Give them a few more minutes. If they don't show up by then, I'll contact them again."

She scoffed in secret over the proposed further wait for her brothers to get to where she and their uncle were. While she understood what overcame her oftentimes soft-hearted uncle, she didn't understand why her mother went with his proposal or fought with her father on her ill-behaved brothers going to the event with her, her uncle, and Bile and Guyunis. With the way Lhaklar was acting, he should be at home; he should be grounded, or getting a restriction on something that he liked doing in the house, or been told that he can't do something that he liked doing while either being in the house or outside of it. With Hazaar and Lazeer looking to not be able to control their tempers, and causing so much chaos in the house because of their not being able to control their tempers, they shouldn't be here either.

While no favoristism was being expressed by their mother, she did wonder if her brothers took advantage of their uncle's proposal or of her after she and their father started fighting over who could go to the festival. When her parents started fighting, she came very close to saying that she didn't want to go—having three boys who misbehaved over the last couple of days going to the event was disgusting, while her parents' fight just sucked the interest of her wanting to go to it right out of her.

Before leaving to go to the festival, she and some of her brothers were given some money. Most of it came from Mr. Disrespect, aka Lhaklar, while the rest came from their mother. With Bile and Guyunis having nearly a hundred euros on them, they didn't need nor got any money; their mother, and Lhaklar, gave her, Hazaar, and Lazeer €70, and Lhaklar deducted that amount from the envelope that was now considered as being his personal savings or "boy-bank" for himself. Over the last few days, she had paid the room that Lhaklar had a visit just to see that envelope—it was "bursting" at the seams, so her brother was either making more than what he said he did or was using little of what he was bringing in from the Shoe Bot. Lhaklar could well of "spoiled" her, Hazaar, and Lazeer by giving them a whole lot more than what he did, and he could well of made Bile and Guyunis feel like crap while doing so, but he didn't. He was fair by giving them something that was in or around what Bile and Guyunis had, and he was fair by giving himself the same amount too. Mr. Disrespect earned a "Brownie Point" from her on that, but he was still on her Naughty List for trying to usurp command of the house from their parents, and giving her and their brothers grief.

"Can't say that I'm broke, because I'm not, but can say that I bought a few things while being here." Eshal thought while waiting for her uncle to use his communicator to see what was going on with her brothers.

While her brothers were accompanying her with Efagti, she bought a few things that catered to herself. The series of books called Horses of the Dawn, by Kathryn Lasky, was being sold very cheap in the first book stall that she visited; she bought it, and the set of horse trinket boxes that came with it, right after seeing it. The trinket boxes consisted of a blue horse, that had Constellations on its sides, a black horse, that had sun-designs on its sides, and a majestic purple horse that had a pink mane and tail. She couldn't help but agree with her uncle on the €10-set being a steal.

The book by Nick Garlick, Storm Horse, also came with a trinket horse box—the enamel paint on it, which was mostly white, but had some black splotches or spots on it, was bright while the Swarovski gems and crystal accents were to die for! She wasn't looking or expecting to buy anymore books while here but, once her eyes lit on the three collections of books, all with their enameled horse boxes being included in the package, she couldn't stop herself from buying them.

The eight-book compromising set of Winnie, by Dandi Daley Mackall, came with four trinket boxes—one of a black horse, that had white spots intermingling its coat; one of a chestnut that was lying down; one of a "tan" horse that had a brown mane and tail; and one of a brown and white pinto that was bowing—while the seven-book compromising set of The Guardian Herd, by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez, came with three. She had a feeling that the one of the bronze-y palomino was going to look good in her ever-growing collection of trinket boxes, and she had a feeling that the vintage bronze enameled horse was going to be the most unique box in her collection; it was probably going to be the deep dark red stallion, that was rearing, that was going to be her favorite for a while, though. Curiously, the four-book compromising set of Spirit of the West, by Kathleen Duey, came with just one trinket box—a brown and white pinto, which looked more than a little eye-catching. The two, single-purchased books, that she bought, had also come with just one trinket box. Wild Running Horse, by Sam Savitt, came with a white-painted Mustang that had a brown mane and tail, while Legend of the Island Horse, by Jenny Hughes, came with a black to deep dark red horse that had a flame-colored mane and tail and points on its legs and muzzle—this was probably going to be her next favorite in her collection.

Of the seventy euros that she was given, she just had sixteen left. She was hoping to save this for something that wasn't book or enameled horse box-related.

"Uncle Efagti..." she said after two minutes passed.

"Yeah, time to call th..." her uncle's communicator was in the process of being removed from its pocket when her uncle pointed to the left. When she turned in that direction, she sighed; two of her brothers were coming towards them.

"Thank goodness!" she thought. She waited until her brothers got to within speaking distance of her and her uncle before speaking to them. "Didn't you hear him contact you twelve... thirteen minutes ago?"

"With our being in one of the areas where the music was being played, there was no way to respond to him, or get out before we did." Hazaar replied.

"I bet that was what kept you so long." Eshal said before feeling her uncle flick her on the elbow. She turned to look at him before turning back to look at her brothers.

"When it comes to rap, cer-k-tain people go crazy." Guyunis said.

"You need to really get a better taste in music, Bro-Sis." Eshal purposely called the second youngest of her brothers the name that she called him when he was a baby. Hazaar almost always reacted to it; on this evening, he surprised her by not doing so.

When she looked down, she saw that Guyunis had two bags on him. With this brother of hers being so into action and adventure, mystery, suspense, and horror novels, she wouldn't be but so surprised if he said that the bags had them types of books in them. When her uncle questioned the boys on whether their story was true, then received the same story on their being in an area where that foul-sounding and ear-corrupting rap music was being played in, he nodded his head then turned his attention to what they had on their persons.

Guyunis, just before nearly everyone went off in separate directions, purchased three books that revolved around them fabled human skull hardstone carvings that were made of clear or milky white quartz. Her father, if he saw them after they got home, would have a time in not laughing—while watching Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull a bunch of hundreds of years ago, he did so and for good reason. He, who was of the New Faith, didn't believe such malarkey as there needing to be thirteen crystal skulls aligned in a circle to prevent the end of a world, or the Universe in which everyone lived; the Universe was dated to being over three trillion years old, and it was written in scripture that the Gods would never destroy it, so he just saw the mention of them skulls as being hilarious meanderings to make people grow scared or nervous of something that wasn't coming their way.

After going off on his own, Guyunis bought a few mystery and action and adventure books on fictional people looking for lost civilizations, kingdoms, treasure, or hidden worlds too. He was still pretty wealthy, despite these purchases.

Hazaar bought only two things before hitting some of the areas were his crap-sounding music was being played in. A Chinese-style dragon firework replica was in one of his bags while the other had a hand-blown paper weight in it that showed a fireworks display after being shook. The De La Soul, Slick Rick, and Jungle Brothers pins, that were clipped to the left side of his shirt, told a good story on what he listened to while being here. After seeing them pins, she turned her attention to Guyunis then asked if he had any, or visited any of the areas where his music preferences were being played in.

"Sure," the hand, that reached into the right-side pocket of the pair of non-ripped or torn, knee-high brown pants, was fast in taking four pins out from where they were. She and Efagti saw that Guyunis went to the areas where Cradle of Filth, Drowning Pool, Lordi, and Rammstein were playing in—while he had a better interest in music, she still thought that it was harmful to one's ears and not decent to listen to. After showing them his pins, he returned them to his pocket then said, "Was headin-k-g to the area where Lamb of God's playing in when you called."

"Don't let me keep you any." Efagti said. Guyunis was fast in nodding his head then teleporting out of the area. Hazaar, after receiving his cue to go on, did the same.

It was a short while before Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer showed up. When they did, they had some bags on them... and a plethora of pins on either their shirts or the belt-portion of their pants.

Bile went to five areas where his music preferences were being played in. He listed to Slipknot, Trivium, Korn, Hinder, and Marilyn Manson; at the time that their uncle called for everyone to group up, he was thinking about going to where Staind was playing. After seeing the arrangement of pins on her brother's belt-line, Efagti said for him to go on, which he did.

Lazeer went to just two areas before deciding to get in on the BBQ that was being offered to the patrons and then "sit some time out" in one of the port-a-potties. After some interrogation time, Efagti learned that he got hysterical after hearing a romance song being played in one of the mellow-based music areas—he confided that his phase was hitting him in a different way than Hazaar's, and that the color red, romance, or songs that revolved around love, and butterflies set off the "embarrassing waterworks" that he wished would stop. Efagti had him stay with them after hearing this.

Pinned to the right hem of her brother's sleeve were the two pins that were given to the ones who went to the areas were specific bands were playing in. Attack! Attack! 2, something that Lazeer called a "tribute band", and Cage The Elephant were the two bands that he listened to before going to grab something to eat then sit things out in one of them small cubicles that were more than a little revolting.

"Take it that you saw just three bands play?" she asked Lhaklar after Lazeer nodded his head after their uncle told him to stay with them.

"Yeah—Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson, and Diana Ross and the Supremes." her brother replied.

"What! This festival's got people who sing R&B performing in it?" Eshal exclaimed in disbelief.

Of course. Both in actual flesh and hologram form. The ones who were in charge of the event took a poll of what would be preferred by the populace that wanted to attend it; after seeing what bands they wanted to see, they either booked them or sent in for the discs that had the hologram slides on them of the bands, or singers, that were no longer around. Each area, where the singers, bands, or holograms were playing in, could hold anywhere between fifty to seventy-five people; the one who stood before them made sure to give out a pin that acted as a sort of souvenir and gloating card to everyone who entered them.

The Rhein im Flammen Buchmesse und Rock im Park festival use to be three separate festivals, or events, a few hundred years ago. The Rhein im Flammen was an event where people got on boats then drifted down the river while watching the spectacular display of fireworks go off, illuminating both the sky and the castles that were close to the river. The event use to take place between May and September but, after the Plague of the Mosquitoes, which occurred two hundred and two years ago, it was merged with two other events then scheduled to happen in late-September. The Buchmesse use to take place in Leipzig, Germany; a hundred and fifty-two years ago, it was known as the Leipzig Book Fair, and was also one of Europe's biggest festivals of literature. Due to the population being what it was, it was decided to merge it with the Rhein im Flammen and then change its date from being March 17 to 20 to September 27 to 30. The Rock im Park festival use to take place in June and Nuremburg; like with the Leipzig Book Fair, it was merged with the Rhein im Flammen after the population was counted and then noted as not being big enough to warrant it being held. Naturally, the Rock im Park festival was where a bunch of bands got together then played to the patrons; even though it was merged with two other events, it was much the same.

Along with there being areas were people, or holograms, were singing and performing in, there were areas where certain game stalls or stands were rigged up, where carnival rides were, and where food, drink, and other entertainments were offered.

"Take it that you bought something between going between the bands that you saw?" Eshal asked after seeing the bag that he had on him.

"Course. But not for me, though." Lhaklar replied. When his sister looked doubtful of his claim, he held the bag out to her then watched as she took then sifted through it.

There were a few tents and stalls where small jewelry boxes, collectibles, and other girlie things were being offered. He gave one a visit before making the decision to go see Michael Jackson play in his designated area. While there, he picked up four horse trinket boxes for his sister; one was of a chunky black horse that had a white mane and legs, another was a bay Clydesdale, another was a rather proudly poised Shire, and the final was of a white horse that was rearing. The crystal accented saddle on the final box could be removed to expose the area where the jewelry was stored.

Eshal, after seeing what it was that was in his bag, then realizing that they were for her, squealed then leaped at him. He was "mildly" embarrassed when she kissed his cheek, then started thanking him; after a minute and a half passed, he grabbed her by the arms then calmed her by saying that they were in public.

"Where'd you get them?" Eshal asked.

"Half-mile from here. There's a few tents and stalls set-up where collectibles, jewelry boxes, and other things are being sold in." he answered.

"I must go and find one!" Eshal's excitement screamed from her. She was about to go look for what he described when the look of gloom settled over her. "How much did you spend on these?"

"Two to three euros. Why?"

"I'll be poor in no time. I only have sixteen of this country's money on me."

"Use the Unlimited spell to make what you have last for what you want to use it on." he dropped his eye in a wink. The Unlimited spell was done with currency, and was always done to duplicate certain bills so one could keep spending, or pay a bill while still having something left over.

"I can't do that. That's stealing."

"If you have the funds, and pay them to the one who you're buying something from, how's that stealing?" he asked.

"Seems that your brother has a point... a double one, seeing as no one on this planet knows what the Unlimited spell is, or what you're doing to keep yourself flowing in cash." Efagti said.

It took a while before Eshal was convinced to go on to where the tents and stalls that he described were. When she left, he decided to hang around his younger brother and uncle—it wouldn't be good on his part to just off and leave them, or not include his uncle on things. It looked like his uncle hadn't done a thing after he and his brothers went off on their own, which was surprising and shocking. Seeing as the three of them needed to do something other than stand where they were, he made the suggestion that they go to where the hand-blown glass figurines and ornaments were being made and sold. Once he heard that they wanted to go to the area where they were, he led them to it.

"Seem to be proving me wrong on a few things this evening, Lhakie." Efagti, who sounded rather proud, said before they reached the tent that he was leading them to.

"I do that sometimes." Lhaklar returned.

The idea of his nephew being immature on certain occasions, or when the need to be a teenager came to him, was just coming to him when he and his two nephews entered a blue and white striped tent. Once he saw what was being offered on some of the tables, he stopping thinking then got to looking and then buying. His wallet had €200 in it, which was all that he'd allow himself to bring to the event; he found himself as being nearly broke in no time after buying some of what was being offered.

His mother had a thing for birds and vases. He bought her more than enough hand-blown birds to keep her for a lifetime—or at least a couple of months, considering how much she enjoyed getting or buying something that had birds on or in it.

The one of a blue parrot, that had a very stiff, clear crown, and was sitting on a clear perch, was nicely made. The same went on the one of the green Heron that had a yellow beak but clear legs. The figurine of the Hoopoe, which was blue on the wings, yellow, brown, and green on the belly and tail, brown on the head, and had a green and rather plummy crown and red beak, was a little corny but he thought his mother would like it. The blue and green Hummingbird was his final purchase of the bird-related hand-blown glass figurines, but it wasn't his final purchase while being in the tent.

Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer had a birthday coming up, so he bought them two hand-blown figurines for the occasion. The blue and black spider, and the reddish-bronze scorpion, were for Bile, while the green grasshopper and the bear fighting the bull were for Lhaklar; seeing as Lazeer had such a thing for frogs, he got him a red, blue, and black Dart frog and a rather fat, red and pink frog. After buying these items, he put his wallet away then left the tent for a second.

His purchases, which were rather fragile, were spell-sent to the house that he was staying in. Once his purchases were safe, he went back to the tent. It took him just a second to find his nephews, and to see that they purchased a few things.

"Bet you two are broke now." Efagti said after approaching his nephews.

"Not yet." Lhaklar confided.

"Still have half of what I was given." Lazeer replied.

Apparently, they bought something for both themselves and their sister. Lazeer showed him the figurine of the horned lizard, that had green and purple dots on its back and green horns, before returning it to his bag. After showing him this, he showed him the figurine of the glass horse that was both blue and prancing—the details on this figurine was superb; Eshal would, without a doubt, love it. Lhaklar bought three items while in the tent; one was of this cat/dragon hybrid that was black, dark brown to mahogany, white, and light blue, while another was of a clear-glass horse that was rearing in spectacular detail. The third item was of another horse, but this one was both getting up from lying down and had gold hooves, mane, and tail. Like with the item that Lazeer had for Eshal, he was sure that Eshal would love what Lhaklar had gotten for her.

"The hybrid thing is for Guyunis." Lhaklar said after spell-sending his purchases home. "I've got my eye on two other things; after buying them, I'm leaving."

"He's only doing so to stop his wallet from growing small." Lazeer joked.

A red and black snake, then a red, green, and white striped caterpillar, that had three sets of curvy feelers on it, were bought before his nephew upheld his word on leaving to do something else. Lazeer just barely got in the purchase of a black-colored glass Kraken, that had red points on its tentacles and head, when he left; he and his youngest nephew followed Lhaklar for a little while before "losing" him in the crowd.

With him, his niece, and nephews being in a zone where the sun set at around nine in the evening, it was a while before the boats were seen and the signal was given for everyone who wanted to see the fireworks to get on them. In the three hours that waned between that time, he and his relatives spent some time together. Lhaklar was gone from his and Lazeer's company for all of thirty minutes before returning to their side; in the time that he was away, he and Lazeer visited one of the areas were contemporary electronic classical music was being played in. They listened to what was being played, then retrieved their commentory pins, then went on their way. It was about ten minutes later when Lhaklar, who had a very well burnt hot dog in his hand, joined them—the sight of the food caused both his and Lazeer's stomachs to rumble, so they followed Lhaklar to where the food vendors were then got themselves something that'd tie them down for a while.

Lazeer went off to be on his own after the burgers and spicy chicken wraps were consumed. While he worried about him, he told himself to trust his nephew in knowing where to go if he experienced another episode in not being able to control his temper or mood swings. Soon after Lazeer went off, Bile and Hazaar were sighted and then approached. Hazaar had a pulled pork sandwich on him, while Bile had a foam container that had some chicken legs that were slathered with something called Caribbean BBQ rum sauce in it—after trying what was in the container, he deduced that the sauce's name was just that; there was no alcohol on the chicken.

Bile and Hazaar, after eating what they had, made the suggestion that they play some of the games, then ride some of the rides. Before taking their suggestion on, he did the spell that transferred some of the funds that he had in his suitcase to his wallet; once he went from being nearly broke to half-so decent, he gestured for them to lead the way to the games and rides.

In all, they played five or so games, then rode four of the rides, before meeting up with Guyunis, who was walking around with a thing of BBQ popcorn chicken. Eshal, who had a thing of grilled donuts on her, was with him; after questioning the two on how long they were together, they learned that they joined up about twenty minutes ago.

"Thanks for suggesting that spell," Eshal said to Lhaklar. "Think I'll be needing some shelves, or a new bookcase, when the move to Moas is done... and think I bought the man who was selling them trinket boxes out of what he was selling."

"No problem." Lhaklar said.

"Stopped using it after playing a few games, then buying these." Eshal pointed at the container of grilled donuts.

"Still have enough for your boat ticket?" Bile asked.

"Think so. How much are the tickets?"

"€5."

"Have twenty on me, so, yeah, have enough for it."

When the sun set, and the very well lit boats were seen as coming towards the pier, he used his communicator to see where Lazeer was and then get to him where they were. Once his nephew was with them, they went to where the boats were. The line was long for the first one, so they weren't able to get on it, but they were able to get on the second one; they bought their tickets for this boat, then boarded it, then found a place near the bow to stand at.

"Which direction?" Efagti asked after they got themselves situated.

"Forward and to the east." Hazaar answered.

The water beneath them glided past effortlessly when the boats shoved off on their course down the seemingly glass-like river. Even though it'd be a short while before they saw them, everyone started searching the sky for the fireworks immediately after they were off from the pier. Everyone but he, that was. During the premature sky checking, and then fireworks watching, he was staring at one of the most beautiful creatures that he had ever seen.

Along with having very dark skin, and a height of around five foot, six inches, she had very golden-brown hair. When she turned to look at him, he saw that she had gray eyes. This babe wore a red tank top, that showed more than enough cleavage, and was quite tight on her, and a pair of blue jean shorts. Her shoes were blue, and had sequin running along their sides. Once the woman's gaze turned towards his, he couldn't resist the urge to smile—she surprised him by returning it.

The next few hours consisted of his splitting his attention between his relatives and the girl. It was no surprise to him—or his nephews, he'd find out tomorrow, during breakfast—that he went towards her before the boat that they were on pulled up to dock at the pier.

It took a lot for him to say no in following the girl to where her car was parked. The same went in telling his niece and nephews to go home without him. When the boat ride was over, he wrenched himself from the girl then followed his relatives to where two game stalls were. While it tore him to pieces—the girl was following them, and was obviously curious and wanting some sort of attention from him—, he did his best to keep his impulses down. It took a span of ten minutes before she shrugged her shoulders then moved off to find someone else to bother. He sighed when he noticed her as not following them anymore, then turned his attention to his relatives.

They spent another thirty minutes at the festival before going home. Once home, they got ready for bed then went to sleep. With his having just gone through a "mammoth" struggle in keeping his impulses at bay, it took him a while before his eyelids slid down and he fell asleep.


	32. Chapter 32

Pretty much everyone agreed that the weather was just waiting to show how Jekyll and Hyde it was. Unlike the first week of September, where mostly pleasant weather was experienced, most of the people who lived near the Rhine were treated to seeing better than torrential thunderstorms when October rolled in. Hazaar, being the nut of the family who enjoyed storms, did more than bust his buns to see what was going on outside while the rest of them either stayed in the living room, dining room, kitchen, or basement.

On a guess, the wind was close to seventy miles an hour. The rain came down so hard that, at times, Hazaar wasn't able to see out the window that he was looking out of. The thunder and lightning were so powerful that their mother found herself as literally leaping for the ceiling with each crack or flashing light. On the first day of this crazy system, which many agreed came from up north of them—England was sure tore up, so it was presumed to come from there—, it wasn't too awful bad. On the days that followed the first of October, the storms either grew in strength or became angry with the stretch of country that they found themselves as sitting on. With the way the wind was, it was no surprise that some of the house's trees didn't last. The Linden tree blew over onto the property that was behind them on the third; two of the Guayacan trees fell following a rather oddly long-lived seventy mile an hour wind gust on the following day; and one of the trees that flanked the driveway lost most of its limbs before collapsing to its side.

While nothing was harmed when the Linden and Guayacan trees fell, something was hurt when the Dwarf Crepe Myrtle tree fell. Their mother's car wasn't under the carport when the tree succumbed to the elements—and was she ever glad for that; instead of finding her car as being tree squashed, she found that it had some minor dings and scrapes on it. Their mother decided to move her car the night before the storms came in; while she was smart in doing this, they weren't. Lazeer, who used the BMW last, parked it under the carport then came in from his planned activity. At the time, he saw his doing that as standard procedure; since none of them knew of the storms coming their way, they didn't blame him for what happened.

On the fifth of October, the Dwarf Crepe Myrtle tree fell on the carport, and on the car that was under it. The carport, while sturdy during all the other storms that they encountered over the months, hadn't been able to withstand the tree; it looked much like a buckled, mangled mess on the day that the storms left the state of Baden-Württemberg. The fallen branches of that tree managed to knock each of the BMW's windows out, and do more than enough scraping and scratching on the side of the car that faced the tree that they formerly rested on. Along with taking the carport out, the tree took the car that was under it out too.

"Dude! Someone call the gian-k-t who did this and file a complain-k-t!" Guyunis exclaimed on the day that they left the house, then took in their surroundings and the many damages that the storm procured.

"My eyes! I'm going back in then going to bed." Hazaar said after seeing the mangled mess of tree, carport, and BMW.

"We have insurance..." Lhaklar said after coming out then seeing what they were.

Yes but, unlike their mother, who had full coverage on her Porsche, they had liability. Their insurance, while protecting the other insured drivers that were out there, and anything that they either drove into or have fall on them, didn't cover them for anything that happened on, with, or to their car. After Lazeer mentioned this, they went into a glum period. They went on their way; thoughts of the tree and carport being carted to the dump, and of the BMW being given its final ride to a junk yard, occurred for all of them.

The town was pretty ravaged, and there were other vehicles out there that were either in equal disarray or worse shape than theirs. They spent about two hours looking at the various buildings and storm-ravaged vehicles before returning home. As expected, the tree was gone from where it was; their mother used her powers to withdraw it from the carport, then hack it into several pieces that could be easily removed. The carport was, surprisingly, still where it was... but it was no longer damaged or destroyed. Until the thought of their mother using a spell to repair it came to them, they thought that she bought another then rigged it up during their absence. The BMW was gone, but not gone as in being sent to where they thought it was.

"Your mother did a good arm-twisting on me about that car." their father said a few hours later. It took all the rest of the eighth, which was yesterday, before he acknowledged where the BMW was and what was happening with it. "Not sure when, but it might be back to being under that carport before we leave for Moas—its being worked on by someone who works on the cars that I own; expecting to find myself throwing somewhere over $3000 on it for everything to be fixed up."

And so, while they had no car to drive, they still owned one. The BMW would look "like new" when it was returned to them. They had no choice but to thank the old man for his shelling out the dough for their car to be repaired, and for it to have full coverage on it following the repairs being made. Their father, while accepting their thanks, was fast in saying for them to calm down and start thinking of what was to be boxed up for the impending move in November.

His room looked odd now. Instead of putting it off, like the rest of his brothers did, he decided to head up then see what he could "live without seeing" for a month or two. Most of his posters were gone from where they were; a quarter of his models were missing on their shelves; the entertainment center, and its lamps, were gone from where they were; and some of his hunting trophies were a curious absence on his bookshelf. Seeing as his room on Moas had no entertainment center in it, and that he would need one to display his lamps on, he decided to pack and then bring the one that he currently owned on the trip—when he heard of his decision to do this, his father took him to the side then "discussed" with him what was and wasn't to be brought to the mansion.

Apparently, most of the furniture was to be left where it was. Of the five of them, only Guyunis was to be given the "honor" of bringing all that he owned in furnishing to Moas. For some peculiar reason, the man had something against his and his biological brothers bringing their stereos with them—Hazaar and he got into it on this twice before the man "got mean" in telling him that his "word" was "law". The old man also put a bug in his ear on his needing to "pick wisely the risque items that you own", which he thought was translation for his and his brothers being forced to leave some of the items that showed skin behind when the move was made. While he agreed to do that, he had a plan in motion for the items that he owned that showed some skin—they were coming with him, but the old man wouldn't see them being put up or even know of his having them. He was going to do one of the spells that'd prevent him from seeing them.

The entertainment center was still coming with him, regardless of what his father said in it not. After their talk ended, he started to wonder what was to come of the house that they lived in. Would it, and all that was in it, be allowed to to "rott" where it was or would it be preserved as a sort of museum? Was Mr. Leinart, who would probably be given the deed before they left the planet, going to keep or sell it?

"It'll be a few weeks before I say for you to pack some more of your stuff." their father said that morning, while they were having breakfast, and discussing their plans for the day. "I'm only getting you to pack like this because I want half of the work to be done before the final two weeks of our stay arrive—better to not be in a rush, Boys."

He wasn't to pack his Megan Fox poster, the rest of his models, his music and magazines, or the rest of what he owned until the final few days of their stay came around. From what he could tell, his brothers' rooms were in equal shape to his; Eshal's room looked almost the same as it did when she moved into the house. The only difference in her room? The lack of trinket boxes, dolls, and decorative pillows; the "mermaid pillows" were still in her room, as were her two hedgehogs, but everything else was either neatly packed away or on Moas.

"Dad said for Eshal, Guyunis, Hazaar, and Lazeer to hold off on packing their pets until the morning of the move. Think he wants to do something with them to ensure their trip to Moas being stress-free or something." Bile thought while waiting to cross the road.

Unlike his brothers, who were told to stay home to finish the packing that they were told to do yesterday, he was out and about in Rastatt. Since he needed to hang around his uncle, and keep his mind off the "babe" that he couldn't stop himself from talking about on the twenty-ninth of last month, he had company with him. He and Efagti were doing a simple stroll now but, in the next ten to twenty minutes, they were to shove off for Egypt. He received permission to do a hunt that morning; since it might get the old man off his back on this one hobby of his, he was taking his uncle with him to show him that he wasn't all that incompetent in doing it. Or needed help while doing it.

Efagti, while being cool and placid with them, was showing his adult side. An example of this happened at the festival—he "tested" the thing of chicken that he had, and made sure to get them together after a certain amount of time passed. Another example was when he got on Guyunis and Lazeer for something that they did when the storms were reeking havoc on them. Lazeer was "snapped at" twice on the secondth; once for wanting to play one of the living room's game consoles, and again for his actually going through in hooking the Super Dendy up then starting to play it. On the sixth, he got on Guyunis for using a word that went against both his religion and some of the religions of Earth—the man, after coming up, then placing his hand on his brother's back, was given a shock when Guyunis turned then said what he did. At the time, Guyunis was voicing his desire in not wanting him to touch him, and the pain that he felt when he touched one of his uncovered marks. Up to that day, he forgot that the Ubalki's were of the Median Faith—he didn't know what, exactly, this was; despite this, he wasn't about to disrespect the man or ask him all sorts of questions on it. While Lazeer simply shrugged his shoulders, then turned the game system off then went off to do something else on the house's first level, Guyunis experienced a regression where he didn't want no one but their mother around him. Guyunis had yet to make a return to his old self; along with being fast in eating his meal that morning, he went up to his room then locked himself in. It'd probably be a while before he decided to unlock his door then come out to interact with the family.

The old man was planning to hang around Hazaar and Lazeer that day. After hearing their plan of going to Durmersheim's Ball Pit, he couldn't fathom the idea of not going with them or seeing what it was that they were planning on doing. With it being a Monday, their mother was to stay at U-Krop-It all day; rather interestingly, Eshal said she wanted to spend a few hours with her. It was presumed that she was either learning the tricks of their mother's workplace or just hanging around her to see what she did with the eight hours that she wasn't home. Lhaklar was planning to be the only one of them to stay home and keep an eye and ear open on Guyunis. Knowing Lhaklar, he was probably going to go through the two catalogs that, somehow, didn't blow away when the mail was distributed on the fourth—both were up his alley; one was on old cars, while the other showed specific models that were based on them cars. With their allowances being given to them before they went off to do as they said they were, his brother might use some of what he was given to buy a few of the one catalog's models. He might use some of the money that was being put in his savings too, come to think of it.

Seeing as he had so much money in his envelope, Lhaklar surprised nearly all of them by stopping and then shoving an extra hundred euros in their hands. With €180 on him—the bulk from his allowance and brother, with the remainder coming from the funds that he had on him when he and his family left the festival that they attended last month—, he could purchase enough pot to last him a month and a half plus his other monthly usuals and anything else he saw and found himself as liking. He had a mind to check a few things out in Cairo, Egypt after his hunt was done—one being the massive flea market that was in the area, while the other was the book fair that was currently going on.

"While he "cautioned" us on our purchases, dad never said that we couldn't buy anything while out and about in town, or in the towns or cities around Elchesheim-Illingen. I see no reason in not splurging on some stuff that'll keep us busy when the weather's not good, or when we have nothing to do at home." Bile thought after crossing the road.

"So, your parents just let you and your brothers wander wherever you want?" Efagti asked after catching up to him.

"Yes and no." Bile replied before doing a quick change on what he said. "Uh... as long as we receive permission to go somewhere that's a distance from home, or are just moving around the town or towns that we live either in or near, yes. If we go out to hunt, we can't leave the shields; we must get permission to go anywhere that's past this district."

"Take it that none of you have broken the barrier with your parents on one or more of them rules?"

"N... only Lhaklar and I." Bile caught and then corrected what he was about to say. "Unlike Lhaklar, who went out about a year and a half ago to hunt some location without permission, and got in trouble for it, I forgot how I needed permission to go to where I went and didn't get in much trouble."

"What was the purpose in Lhaklar going to where he went without say-so from your mother, and for you to go where you went?" Efagti asked.

"We were living off the land, and Lhaklar wanted to ensure that we had enough to eat; he just went to hunt where he went with the thought of keeping us sustained for a few nights. It was after we moved into the house when I went to Amsterdam to both scope it out and see what I could buy for my room." Bile replied in a half-so true way.

When Efagti asked for the cause of their living off the land last year, he was honest with him. From January to July, their mother was working on getting Guyunis to trust them and not be but so negative towards humanity; at the time that he was adopted, his view on humanity was so bad that it was shocking. He literally hated the humans, and wouldn't hear a word of what anyone said in their not being all that bad or horrible. He and his brothers, while relishing in the opportunity to hunt, hadn't based their hunts on gaining trophies or the honor or glory of being the "hero" of the family—along with enjoying a hobby that they were formerly forced to abandon, they were providing for the family by bringing home meat and pelts to keep them fed and warm with.

For the first week of February, they lived in the Cave of the Winds, which was located in the Pikes Peak region of Colorado, just west of Colorado Springs, on U.S. Highway 24, near the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, before moving. With the cave having near-constant tours done in it, it was just not ideal for them; the one that they moved into next was better suited to them. They stayed in it for three months before moving.

The Hobo Cave, which was actually a set of bouldering problems that were beneath a rock buttress on Boulder Mountain land, found on Flagstaff Mountain, in Boulder, Colorado, was where they were allowed to stretch out, breathe a little, hunt, and do a little gathering of what they needed to survive on. During each of their walks, or runs, they picked up sticks, branches, tinder for the fire, and rocks; while he, Guyunis, Hazaar, and Lazeer didn't do much fishing there, Lhaklar did. Their mother mostly let them do the hunting and supply collecting. Her "main" duty was keeping the cave safe, them fed and well hydrated, and looking after them when they came back from their activities with injuries; he and his brothers pitched in on keeping the fire going. If not for his wicked father—Master Vile, aka Dark Dad—, they would of stayed there longer.

There were few areas in Africa where people still lived. Their mother picked the one in Ogbunike, Anambra State, which was in Nigeria, Africa, for them to live in after Horace A. Smith told her to take them then not worry about the Americas or ousting her father from them. The Ogbunike Caves were where they lived in for a month; along with being located in a valley, they were in a tropical rainforest. At the time of their moving to this location, Guyunis wasn't allowed to hunt—he was a "dangerous" hunter, who preferred to hunt from beneath the animal, and fight it after springing out to take it down, before she saw to teach him how to properly do a hunt. Their mother also took up his power-training while in this location.

In July, she decided to move them to the Sannur Cave, which was ten miles southeast of the city of Beni Suef, which was in Egypt. Like with Africa, most of Egypt was empty of people; she picked this location because it was both near a city, far from where Guyunis's mother lived, and she thought it was time for Guyunis to do gradual integration with the humans. After seeing that Guyunis was spending time in the city, and with the ones who lived either in or outside of it, she decided to move them to a move civilized setting. Germany was where she chose to move them to, and that was where they moved to.

"Guyunis didn't much like the idea of moving here—he experienced one of them regressions of his when he learned that we were moving here. Thanks to ma, he calmed down and accepted that we were moving far from his former wards and weren't getting rid of him." Bile finished the explanation that he was giving to his uncle.

After hearing what he did, Efagti was close to saying that his nephews, Guyunis included, were both an abnormally mature, yet still immature, bunch. Bile's words were very frank, so he didn't dispute any of what he told him. From what he was told, Lhaklar was grounded after going to New Mexico, and then Oregon, to hunt what was available there; he had a feeling that Bile's "innocent-sounding" trip to Amsterdam wasn't so innocent.

He knew of the boys' smoking habits, and was trying to help their father in getting them to give them up. Angel, rather surprisingly, didn't seem all that phased by what the boys were doing; she either turned a blind eye to their smoking at their age or claimed that they were fine as long as they didn't smoke but so much. He had actually come across Lhaklar smoking by his ajar bedroom window twice during the storm system that blew through, and he also caught Guyunis letting Lazeer share the stick that he was smoking on the fifth. While Guyunis's regression mostly came from his touching him on his still-sensitive back, which was only unwrapped to be allowed to air out, it also came from the other things that he did during the week that it was storming.

On the third, he entered Bile's room while Guyunis was in there. Bile was dusting these two beer steins that he had, and talking to his brother about how to not be but so "shy" or "nervous" around one of the opposite gender at the time. While he understood the notion of Bile explaining why one shouldn't be but so nervous when they're around the opposite gender—shit, he did the same with Amadh when he was both a teenager and decided to approach him on the subject—he didn't understand why Bile was talking about what one did to entice another to bed, or how to attract one enough to get "a date". Bile was a mid-teenage boy, and so was Guyunis, so neither of them should know how to get someone in bed or gain a date.

Along with getting on his nephew for improper knowledge on how to acquire a date, he asked him if his parents knew of his having beer steins in his possession. While getting a yes-answer from Bile, he was looking the glasses over—one was black, but had a lot of knight and bell pewter designs on it, while the other was made of chain-mail; even though they were pretty, he didn't think they were appropriate for one of Bile's age to have. Up to when Tazir told him about the steins that Guyunis had, and was displaying in his room, he was a bit negative towards his nephew; he felt like a heel when this was made known to him, and when he learned that Tazir was fine with their having their steins and that Lhaklar had two as well.

After learning that Lhaklar had some beer steins in his possession, he grew curious about them. On the fourth, he went into his room with the intent of checking them out; it was then that he caught his nephew smoking, and having his window open during the storm.

"Wasn't you taught that, when you have an open window in a house, the pressure generated by a storm is increased?" he remembered asking his nephew after seeing what he did. As a young boy, this yarn was spun on him—while he wasn't crazy about storms, he did like to feel the energy that came from them. His parents, after the upteenth time in finding that his bedroom window was open when it was storming, started trying to get him to stop doing this by telling him what he was asking his nephew about.

"No." his nephew replied while putting his cigarette out.

"You're causing a lot of pressure to build up in here, which is destabilizing the storm. You're also opening a good possibility to you being struck by lightning, and debris."

He felt right hot in the cheeks after saying this. After seeing how puzzled his nephew was, he smiled, shrugged his shoulders, then did a quick glance of the room for the two steins that he didn't see when he was shown it on the eighteenth. It took him but a second to notice that both were on the beside stump that acted as a table; he took a liking to them at once. One was pewter, and had a hunter on horseback, three mountain goats, and three hunting dogs on it, while the other was made of glass and had flaming designs on it. Lhaklar, while mentioning that he was on the fence about finding a place for them in his room, or packing them up for the move to Moas, had said that he just started using the glass-made one as the source that his nighttime water was put in.

While things mellowed out between him, Bile, Lhaklar, and Lazeer, and stayed the same between him and Hazaar, they grew dim for him and Guyunis. Guyunis grew to be a trifle nervous of him after he entered his brother's room, then started getting on him about what he was telling him; following his attempt to put a more minor-feel in on what his brother was telling him, he grew uncomfortable with him. Guyunis started putting some distance between them after he tried to put a more age-appropriate explanation to what he was told. On the sixth, the boy's feelings towards him were exposed and they started growing a bit negative towards each other—he, Efagti Izorot Ubalki, was of the Median Faith and plain refused to hear any words that went against his or any other religion out there; when he heard the boy use that word, he flipped then started targeting him on the "filth" that he was allowing to spew from his mouth and the demons that he was allowing to "dance" on the soil of good. It wasn't until suppertime on the seventh that Angel and Tazir took him to the side then asked for him to both cool it with Guyunis and stop trying to impose his religion on him.

He felt horrible for targeting Guyunis on his expressing himself with him, and he understood that he didn't say that word all the time. According to Angel, Guyunis had used that word a few times in May and June when he grew to being particularly emotional; she gave him a normal, mother-son talk on it before she went to get the house that her family were staying in. Up to October 6, the boy hadn't used or acted like he was going to use it—after hearing this, he remembered seeing the look of shock, then dread, fall over Guyunis's face following his use of that word; that, in itself, told him that it just popped out without check and that Guyunis wasn't at full fault for it being used.

"She'll need to give him another talk before the move is made." Efagti thought after following Bile into a magazine store, then started watching him as he looked through then picked up the magazines that he wanted to purchase. "Most of Tazir's staff are of the same religion as I, while the rest is of the Yewl or Minority—a similar instance to what happened between he and I, or something worse, will happen if he says that word in front of them."

Long before the gift of being half-immortal was given to certain peoples in the Universe, and travel between galaxies became a more readibly able thing to do, the denizens of each of the known planets went by their own set of religions and refused to acknowledge the other religions out there. It took a bunch of wars, and social and civil separation, before someone asked why they were doing as they were and couldn't accept the religions of the ones around them. A time of peace was experienced after everyone started accepting the religions practiced by their planetary brothers then, shortly after that peace began, the Gods started bestowing gifts on the ones that they deemed fit for immortality. While there were still planets out there where a different type of religion was practiced on, everyone agreed that there were just five main types of religion in the Universe.

The Old Faith was said to be the oldest of the five. It was practiced by about thirty percent of the Universe's populace. The New Faith, which derived from the Old Faith, was the next oldest; it was practiced by around forty percent of the people who lived in the Universe. The Median Faith had around twenty percent of the people who lived in the Universe following it while the Yewl or Minority had seven percent. The religion that didn't revere the Gods in any way had a mere three percent of the Universe's population following it—of the five, it was the youngest.

Earth, as much as it surprised some scholars, had a shocking number of religions on it. From what some scholars were able to find, there were over four thousand practiced religions on the planet; while some had many followers, and weren't threatened, endangered, or going extinct, there were some that had few followers and were either close to being extinct or extinct.

If Bile had asked him about his religion, which the Ubalki and Zoopray families were long followers of, he would of told him the basics on it without feeling a bit offended. In his mind, no one should keep their religion a secret or not answer the questions presented on it.

"The usual, or you just free-picking what you see on the shelves?" Efagti said after his nephew got in line at the nearest register.

"Except for one, all are what I get each month." Bile replied.

In all, Bile picked up eight magazines. He wasn't but so surprised over seeing WhiteTail, Water Fowl, Trophy Hunter, Predator Xtreme, Hunting Adventures, and Trapper and Predator Caller being picked up; what shocked him was the fact that his nephew grabbed the final copy of Hustler, which was a pornographic magazine, and then the first copy of Messer Magazin. Unlike the pornographic magazine, it took him a while to figure out what the Messer Magazin was about—when he saw the bucket of knives on the front flap, he put two-and-two together on it being on knives, which he knew his nephew had a better than keen interest in. After asking about the magazine that his nephew didn't get each month, Bile held up a mostly green book that had Dangerous Game Hunting in bold-white letters on it.

"It's an old magazine." Bile said while the cashier was running his purchases under the scanner. "Only printed once every three to four months and, when it is, people usually scarf it up like its candy."

"Get the last one?" Efagti asked.

"Nope, but the place where it's in might be empty after the next four or five people see it as being there." Bile answered.

Following the purchase of the magazines, Bile led them from the store then to the end of the block before stopping. He said the spell—and right perfectly too—to send what he purchased home then gave him the signal to draw in closer. It took but a second for him to realize that he was going to teleport them to Egypt, and then get busy with the sport that he was to watch him do; while nervous over what Bile was to do while in Egypt, he remembered the set of instructions that he was given well. Before leaving the house with his nephew, Tazir took him to the side then said for him to simply watch what he did. If something came up, where his nephew looked to be in need of help, he was to help him but, if nothing was seen, he was to just act as a spectator.

Upon the teleportation's completion, he found himself as being a very willing participant to just standing by the sidelines. He remembered Angel saying something about Africa and Egypt being abnormally dry for the last ten years, and about most of their civilized areas being abandoned following the drought that was experienced—she said this in early January of 4100... to him, it looked like Egypt was _still_ dry and mostly abandoned. Sweat automatically started dripping from him, his clothes started feeling uncomfortable on him, and his skin started to voice its annoyance over the heat and sunlight that it was being subjected to.

In the corner of Germany where his family was staying in, it was in the mid-sixties. In his current location, it had to be close to a hundred... or over! He shook his head; shifted his feet, and moved his arms; and closed his eyes in an attempt to get over the heat. When this didn't happen, he searched out a tree. Unlike most of his siblings, who inherited just their mother's P.S.E., he inherited her other ailment—his skin could burn in any degree of heat if he wasn't careful. If he had known about the heat that was in area where his nephew's hunt would take place in, he would of brought his lotion with him. It would of helped in keeping his skin moist, and the chance of it burning from happening.

"Uncle Efagti?" Bile said after he was under the shade of one of the area's many palm trees.

"I'm fine. Go on and do your hunt—don't worry about me." Efagti mustered the strength to say.

After Bile stomped his foot, then grabbed the hard, compressed spear that shot up from the ground, he took notice of the geologic stresses that were present in the region. The sand, while nearly white, wasn't as fine as he remembered it being in the mid to late 1990's. Now, it was kind of wet and not all that stable. The trees around him, while numerous, were either very branchy, and leafy, or lacking leaves and had dead or dying branches on them. The grass was growing in patches in places, and wasn't all that healthy. He could see a sheppard to the east; it looked like he had a small flock of sheep and goats with him. When this man came closer to him—either to take a better look at him or bring his animals closer to the body of water that he was close to—, he saw that most of his flock were small, weedy, and borderline emaciated. Even though a breeze was present, it didn't take much from the heat. In the distance, he saw steam—from the wetness in the sand evaporating into the atmosphere, he presumed. There were no clouds in the bright blue sky, or a hint of clouds coming towards him, which meant that it was going to be hot for a while.

This hot, near-arid area was where his young nephew's hunt was suppose to take place in? He bet Bile was close to being drenched in sweat, and that he'd need to take down two to three bottles of water to replenish himself after they went home. He closed his eyes, then tried to envision himself in a cooler area, when the thought of how sunburned his nephew was going to be came to him; whether it was coincidence or not he didn't know but, when he opened them some time later, he saw that Bile was coming towards him. His nephew was dragging an animal behind him, which looked to be both near-healthy, old, and furry on the head, shoulders, and stomach. After seeing this sight, and the one of his nephew being unscathed from whatever endeavor he just did, he stepped out from the tree's shade then went towards him.

"What is this?" Efagti asked after reaching his nephew, who had since stopped after reaching a tall, and rather oddly bushy and leafy, bush.

"Think it's an Egyptian lion—the Barbary, which was renamed to the Egyptian in 2590." Bile replied.

"Think its big enough?" Efagti did a quick estimate on the animal's size. It looked to be nearly nine feet long; along with having the tawny coat of the regular lion, it had a mostly black mane that stretched back to the shoulders and then under the armpits and stomach. The only part of the mane that wasn't black was on the forehead, cheeks, and under the jaw. The tail, like the other lion breeds, had a dark tuft of fur on it.

"Yeah, wasn't expecting to find or bring it down. It'll keep the family going for a while." Bile said.

"And then some."

"Think the birds will do that." Bile stopped what he was doing, which was checking his kill for ticks or other things that the house didn't need in it, to give him a wink.

In all, they were in the Faiyyum Oasis for thirty minutes. In them thirty minutes, he found mostly birds to either look at or hunt. He caught nine Spotted sandgrouses—a thirteen inch bird that had a small, reddish-brown nape that was surrounded by a band of pale grey that extended to the bill and then around the neck in a collar—before finding nothing else to hunt. He was about to call it a day when the lion was seen. After giving it a thought, he ambushed it, then threw his spear, then ran at it. Two more spears did the trick in taking the massive beast, which was starting to show some rib and hip, down. Seeing as it was hot, and he needed to get back to his uncle, he grabbed the lion by its tail then started pulling it along—with it being over four hundred pounds, this wasn't an easy feat. By the time he reached the bush, he was soaping wet in sweat and in desperate need of a break.

The water in the nearby Birket Qarun looked refreshing. Historically, the lake use to be freshwater and much bigger; after it was abandoned following the nearest branch of the Nile shrinking in 230 A.D., it became saltwater and was allowed to shrink to what it was. While he couldn't drink from it, he could jump in to get some relief from the heat that he was feeling and the sweat that was on his body. After thinking this action over, he stood up then went to do as he wanted. His uncle watched as he did what he was then gave his head a nod when he returned to the bush that he and his kill were under.

"Encounter any issues while taking this down?" his uncle asked once he returned to within talking distance.

"Nope." he was about to spin a white lie when he decided to be truthful—honesty, he thought, might win his uncle over on this interest of his; it might also cause him to pursuade his father into both attending the next hunt and letting him continue it. "I ambushed it by standing by some bushes and grass; when it was within distance, I threw my spear then ran to finish it. Two more spears did the trick."

"Did it turn to defend itself?" Efagti asked.

"Yes, but I think it was taxed by the heat and its age. While it swiped at me, and gave a lunge in my direction, it never had contact with me or did much to defend itself." Bile replied.

"Going to keep anything on it?"

"The pelt and mane. Everything else'll be used by the family." Bile responded. "I'm not here for trophies. I'm here to bag something for the family."

"What're you doing after this? You done with your hunt, or are you not finished yet?"

He told his uncle what he was planning on doing before going to work in removing the lion's pelt and mane then sending them, plus the rest of his kill, home. Following the small cultivation of his kill, he motioned for his uncle to come closer then teleported them to Cairo. The venue where the book fair was taking place in was directly behind them, so they turned then went in. In comparison to how it felt outside, the building was cool and refreshing; he and his uncle found two machines where sodas, or bottles of water, were in right after entering it. After doing the spell that converted some of their cash into what was accepted in their location, they purchased something to drink, then drank it, then went to see what the fair was about.

With the building being as big as it was, and with there being as many tables and boothes in it as there were, it was no surprise that he found something to buy right after consuming his soda then throwing the can away. Guyunis seemed to be really into his Ripley's Believe It Or Not books, so he purchased all but the four that he owned from the man who was selling them. Following that purchase, which came close to draining him of funds, he did the Unlimited spell then went to find something else to look at and, possibly, buy.

Due to his being the son of Vile Skujik Vile, he found himself as having his service refused by some of the people who were manning some of the tables where decent to halfway decent books were being sold on. Efagti got a bit heated with two of the people who refused to let him buy anything from them, then he tried to get him to leave with him when an abnormally tall woman insulted him because of who his paternal figure was, before he stopped then said that all was cool and that he was use to this.

Following the most recent refusal of his service from one of the table's proprietors, he found something to buy for Lazeer. The series of books were old, but weren't falling apart; each were on the planet's extinct animals. He was about to leave the venue with the bags that he had, which were right heavy, and giving him some trouble in carrying, when his eye landed on the big book that was being sold on a small table that was by the venue's far back wall. After seeing this book, he looked to see if his uncle was still nearby; when he saw that he was, but was paying a table, and its proprietor, some business, he went on to what attracted his attention.

"Well now, I heard that you were here." the proprietor, who was one of the most beautiful women that he had ever seen, said after he approached her table. The woman, who had darkly tanned skin, olive-colored eyes, and the longest black hair that he had ever seen, gave his bags a glance before turning her attention back to him. "I see that you're not here to cause trouble, so how may I help you?"

"No ma'am. Wherever I go, I look to cause no trouble." Bile replied before gesturing at the table's biggest book. "What's that on?"

The woman smiled, then went to where the book was. When she opened it, he saw that it had a heavy film of dust on it. "My baba owned this. It was in his attic for a while, before being moved to mine then brought here. It charts the classiest cars out there that were built from when the automobile was first made to now; it also lists the cars that never made it to market, or have yet to be made."

"One of my younger brothers has an interest in classy cars, both from their inception to now, and I don't think he's seen a book that's got anything in it on the cars that weren't sold to anyone or have yet to be made. May I ask how much you're selling it for?"

"Seeing as I'd like to speak with your buddy, and that you might help me in doing that, I'll knock thirty from it for you." the woman winked at him. "Thirty and its yours."

"Deal."

Before buying the hefty book, he noticed the three books that were on the history of hip hop. He bought all four before calling his uncle over then introducing him to the woman who he just did business with. His uncle and the woman exchanged "words" for a decent stretch of time before the signal was given on his needing to turn around and then leave. His uncle, as expected, used him much like the woman did; only he did so in a way to get away from her instead of to get her to come over to where he was so he could talk to her. When he left the venue, his uncle was practically clipping his heels and looking more than a little flustered. Seeing as the trip to the flea market was out, they left Cairo; like with their speedy exit of Egypt, they were fast in going into the house. Once they were inside, he went to square away his purchases while his uncle went to take care of himself and the issue that he, in some small way, created.


	33. Chapter 33

Efagti didn't do well by watching Bile's hunt. While he understood that it was hot in the location, and that his brother was disoriented and concerned about his skin burning, he did wish that he would of followed his son and then watched him take some of the birds, or even the lion, down. Due to his decision in following Hazaar and Lazeer to the Ball Pit, he couldn't see Bile's hunt or even help or prevent him from hunting; he thought that Efagti would do well in his place, and give him either a good report or one that he could use as a means to keep the boy from hunting again. Instead, his brother stood under a tree with his eyes shut all while his adopted son did the hobby that one his age shouldn't be doing. When he heard of how his brother conducted himself in Egypt, and didn't see what he asked him to see, he tottered on the brink of anger and frustration.

"Hey, don't look at me that way. You would of done the same as I if you were there instead." Efagti must of seen the look of anger and frustration on him. While he tried to smile at him, then throw a kidding word to mellow the mood out, he wasn't able to.

Ashaklar Ubalki, who was born under the surname of Zoopray, inherited the two ailments that the Zetakin race was known to exhibit. Along with having P.S.E., which was an ailment that caused various amounts of pain to one who wore inadequate equipment when they were outside and the thing that gave their resident planet light and heat alighted on their eyes, she had UV Skin Effection, which was a condition that one who's skin burned relatively easily when it was a specific temperature outside had. This fine woman, who had eight children to her credit, had passed either one or both of these ailments to her children; while he and Defe had both, Amadh, Phaggo, Blaiga, and Qhuakiz had P.S.E. Efagti was the only one of her children to inherit just her UV Skin Effection; Qeeta was the lucky one by not getting either of the ailments that their mother had—while they joked about this, they were also envious of her not having to worry about her eyes hurting her when she went outside when it was sunny or about her skin burning when she was out and about in hot temperatures.

While he had both ailments, he had yet to pass both to the children that he sired. To that day, he had just one child who inherited one of his ailments—Lazeer wore his goggled glass when he and Hazaar led him to Durmersheim, then to the Ball Pit; thankfully, instead of getting his severe-severe sensitivity, he got a less severe type of sensitivity. With he and Angel being forever young, and now engaging in full-blown sex, he might, one day, sire a child who had both of his inherited ailments. Or just UV Skin Effection, which always showed up when one was closing in on five hundred years of age.

Even though he was frustrated with his brother, he forced himself to come to terms on what happened and that Efagti only went by instinct in getting out of the glaring sunlight and into some shade. Bile took care of the cat after getting back from his hunt, then from whatever event he and his uncle went to after said hunt was done; once the cat's meat was removed, and the bones were properly disposed of, his son went on to tending the nine birds that he caught. When he, Hazaar, and Lazeer returned from Durmersheim, the basement was found to be a feather-filled mess. The birds were bagged, then stored in the fridge; Angel made each of them a meal from them that night. The cat's meat was consumed on the three days that followed, then normal meals were made and then consumed on the two that followed.

"Serious!" Guyunis, who, from what he was told, decided to come out from his room after Efagti and Bile left to do as they did, said after seeing the collection of books that his brother bought for him.

Bile, and Efagti, did some shopping while in the venue that they went in. It seemed that Bile found something for all of his brothers while at the event; when he found himself as not having anything for Eshal, he "snuck" from the house then went back to the event to see if there was anything there that she might like and want. Lhaklar received this massive book on classic cars, which he started reading right away; Hazaar received three books on the history of his music interest; and Lazeer received six old, but still together, books that were on the planet's extinct animals. It was only when Guyunis came down from his room after everyone was home and settled in that he received the things that were bought for him. With Eshal spending most of the day with her mother, she was the last to get the things that were hers.

Guyunis might need a new bookcase, or some shelves, for the collection of books that he got. There were over fifty in the collection, and each had them optic illusion covers that displayed a different oddity on them. Eshal received a few books that were on the feminine outfits that women use to wear from the 1800's to late 3800—she more than crooned over them.

Seeing as he missed the boys', and Eshal's, birthdays this year, Efagti bought something for each of them for next year's birthday. While he spoke on what he bought for them, he didn't show him any of it, which gave him a small concern. His brother, while good and soft-hearted, didn't know the boys as well as he thought he did. All he had was small observation to go by in what they liked; he hoped, for Efagti's sake, the boys would appreciate what he got for them and not let it just sit in their rooms and collect dust.

"From here on out, be careful on your purchases, boys. Let's not have but so much to pack for when we vacate the planet." he said on the night of the hunt, and book purchases.

Except for Lhaklar and Guyunis, the boys did some shopping on their personal interests on that day. It seemed that Bile just bought his monthly magazines before going out to hunt, then go to the event that he and his uncle attended; in the two days that followed, he purchased two models and something else that he wouldn't disclose to anyone—marijuana, he presumed. Before reaching the odd building that his sons called Durmersheim's local teen hang-out spot, Hazaar and Lazeer stopped to get their magazines. Until the thirteenth, when they came in with an armload of stuff that they were having trouble in carrying, he was content in knowing that they were being wise in limiting their purchases.

Along with doing the usual in getting their animals their food, vitamins, and supplements, his sons bought themselves a model and, alas, something to smoke. Seeing as he wanted them to quit, he took the packs of cigarettes right after seeing them—the boys, naturally, were upset over this... for a few hours before, somehow, getting two more packs to replace the ones that he took. Hazaar had this metal master New York Central Hudson locomotive model in with his things when he came in, while Lazeer had this model on a WWIII submarine in with his; they just bought them models, nothing more.

"Lhaklar's got a very good eye for vintage car models." he thought while waiting for his wife to finish the dishes.

He got his usual magazines and, he presumed, cigarettes while out and about in Karlsruhe on October 12. Instead of buying any models from the stores in the mall that he visited, he shopped and then sent for the three that caught his fancy in the catalog that came in the mail on the fourth. The red Bentley Blower No.1 was nice, as was the dark green 410 Superamerica Pinin Farina Coupé; the one of the 6C 1750 GS Zagato was probably his favorite of the three. Lhaklar had yet to get to the Zagato, but he was done with building the Bentley and around a quarter done with the Superamerica. His son had already said that he was sending the three models to the mansion after they were completed, so that told him that he was being a little smart in keeping the surplus things that he needed to pack for the move down to a minimum.

"Wish Guyunis would do that."

Yesterday, the boy who his wife adopted, and he was to act as a potential daddy to, went to get some stuff that'd tie him over for a while. More than a few eyes popped from their sockets when he returned. Along with his monthly magazine editions, some books and CDs, and two packs each of his preferred brand of cigarettes, he had five models on him that he said he was to build and then display in his room. The models consisted of a 1940 Indian 440 four, a 1922 Triumph Motorcycle Model H 1, a Jawa 350 motorcycle with Velorex sidecar, a 1924 AJS, and a 1950 Indian Chief Black Hawk; naturally, most had yet to be opened or worked on. Of the five, the Triumph was the only one to be open and about fifteen percent done—during supper, the boy said that he was busting himself good and proper to get it to look weather-worn; he was going to paint the Indian 440 blue, the Jawa black, the AJS green, and the Indian Chief yellow.

While he accepted the magazines, books, CDs, and models, he didn't on the cigarettes. Right after seeing them, he went to confiscate them; his attempt in being a bit parental with Guyunis didn't go well. Guyunis, after seeing him taking his cigarettes, came over then gave him a mean stare before taking his smokes, then other purchases, then going upstairs, where he stayed for the rest of the day. The mood between them was still murky; when he tried to be rational with the boy on his smoking, and on his needing to quit for his good health, he found himself as getting stared at again—about an hour ago, when Guyunis came in with a further two more packs of his cigarettes, they got into it on who had more authority than the other, and knew best for the other.

He had a feeling that Guyunis was trying to act like a bigshot with him today, which he wasn't about to let happen. Following his use of that word on the sixth, he started trying to get a bit more firm control of him—the boy was big for his age, and strong as an OvraOx, and smart and fast, but he still needed to know who his elders were and who he took command from. Being that today was a Saturday, and his wife was home, he met with some opposition on trying to take control of the boy—when he grounded Guyunis following his outburst on his having no say on what he did each day, Angel came over to calm the both of them down and then remove the punishment that he just installed.

"Are you trying to make him distance himself from you?" Angel asked after removing his punishment from her son.

"No. I'm trying to get him straight." he replied.

"Openly taking things from one who barely knows or trusts you, and getting into fights with that person, is a fine way to do that." his wife said. "You're a smart man, and should know how to go by Guyunis now; let's not cause him to think of you as the bad man, or the evil stepfather."

Angel claimed that she understood him and what he was doing, but she was still cautioning him on some things that he did with the boy who's biological father was still a no-show. While he was annoyed over this, and over his having about twenty-five percent of the boy's trust and respect, he was willing to continue with her rules in going slow with him. He apologized to Guyunis for his "jumping" at him, then trying to "rule" his world and how he liked living in it; in response, Guyunis said okay then slugged his fist into his arm. ShaamVile Kondee Surfeit had some big arms, which had some good muscle on them, and he bet he had a good punch to him—even though the man's son's "slug" was meant in a light way, he still felt it.

Following his apology to Guyunis, he went to find Angel then spend some time with her. As expected, she was found in the kitchen and by the sink. With nine people in the house, and most of them being in their teen years, a lot of dishes got to being dirty; after seeing her as manning the sink, which was flanked on one side by two days worth of dishes, he went to help her in doing them. She was cleaning them, while he was drying them off then putting them in the dish drain.

"You never said how it went with Hazaar and Lazeer when you three went to Durmersheim." Angel said while handing him a pot to dry.

"Went very well. With them two going through that phase, I was surprised over how well behaved they were." TazirVile replied. He dried the pot then put it in the dish drain quickly.

"I've heard about the Ball Pit several times now, but never questioned it, or thought much on it." Angel said more to herself than to him. She continued to clean the dishes, and hand him the ones that needed drying, before speaking again. "Surprised that you haven't asked any of the boys when they'll be going out to hunt again."

"In the next week to two weeks, I plan on surprising them one by one by taking them out to hunt. I look forward to seeing how well you've trained them on how to do it, and to seeing them do it." while truthful on what he said, he had to also choke it out. He was nervous on what was to happen with them hunts and, honestly, wasn't looking forward to them.

"You won't be disappointed." his wife said.

As a way to get his mind off the impending hunt that he and his sons were to do in the coming weeks, he thought about where Hazaar and Lazeer took him five days ago. After buying their magazines, then sending them home, his sons led him around for twenty minutes before turning then going to where this long concrete structure was. The outside of the building was green and blue painted, but had a texture akin to slime to it; the roof was normal, but smooth in appearance and had several smoke stacks on it. His sons led him to the four steps that made up the porch, then went up them, then went in. He was instantly blown away by what he saw after stepping past the opening where the seemingly solid piece of glass, that had the establishment's name, address, number, and hours on it, was.

The day's music was being played at a nearly too-loud pitch, and the presiding DJ was acting a bit too comical in his actions over manning it. The ceiling, and two opposing walls were made of something like mirrors, and caught the bedazzeling lights grandly; while the wall that the door was on was normal, the one across from it wasn't. The smoke stacks, that he saw earlier, belonged to the two grills. The cooks made anything that was on the menu then sold it for a decent price that didn't break their youthful patrons' pockets; they also made smoothies and milkshakes, which cost nearly the same as the rest of what was offered. While there were tables in the joint, and places set-up near the sides that had stools by them, most of the people in the building were standing and talking to someone or throwing themselves at the floor's colorful balls.

A series of four steps led down to the floor, which was nearly rubberized, and allowed for the balls to have an extra "kick" to them when they were assaulted by someone who jumped on them. The balls weren't the standard size of four inches; instead, they were a variety of sizes—from that to nearly softball, volley ball, and the normal and giant version of the beach ball. His sons were fast in joining the antics of the rowdy teenagers around them, while he just took to one of the tables and watched them.

"Think Mr. Modulavich's second oldest son goes to a place like this from time to time..." he thought while sitting where he was. "Think every city on Moas has something like this in it, so they'll be able to continue to go to places like this after the move's done and everyone's settled in to living in the mansion."

He and his sons stayed in the establishment for nearly two hours before leaving. They came home right after leaving; while Hazaar listened to some of his music, Lazeer lamented his still badly injured and slowly healing face. In the time that he and Eshal were living in the house, and on the planet, his youngest son's face had healed maybe ten percent. For an immortal child, some injuries did take a while to heal; he was fast in comforting his son, and telling him that it'd take nearly two years for his face to heal up to looking better than it was. With the gash being as bad as it was, Lazeer knew it was going to leave a scar—for it to not do so would be a surprise, and a good one, to the both of them. Up to when the pack of Marlboro's were seen in his youngest son's stack of purchases, they were fine with one another. He and Hazaar had one issue on the ninth, and that involved the volume of his music; other than that, they were also fine with one another. It seemed that any friction felt between his son and he was low or non-existent on that day.

He knew well where Hazaar came to be a bit negative towards him. With the boy only knowing him by name, and their only seeing each other twice, he shouldn't of taken the belt to him. At the time that the belt was taken to him, Bile, and Lhaklar, he thought that they'd understood that he was just disciplining them; the three had fought him, and his Goblins and Efagti, and had injured some of them enough to be sent home on paid leave, and he reacted to this by acting like a normal parent who was always in his child's life. Until the last couple of months rolled by, he stood by his recogning in disciplining them with that belt; now that he was under the same roof as they for more than three months, and was looking to move a boy who had such a bad history of abuse on his shoulders to his home soon, he knew that what he did was wrong. He wasn't about to use any type of weapon—whip, belt, shoe, or anything—on them again. It was to just be his words and, if the cause was good, the palm of his hand to get them straight.

"Take it that Efagti's with one or more of the boys?" Angel asked while handing him the last dish in the sink to dry.

"No. He's upstairs." TazirVile replied.

In a way, she was happy to hear this. She was surprised over how Efagti was conducting himself, and his visit; last month, he was doing well with the boys, and his brother, while, this one, he was very different. The predictable, surely man who had a good head on his shoulders, and knew how to present himself, was no longer present. Efagti was now acting right nervous, and was prone to target or try to impose certain things on her sons that were either causing them to be distant with him or fight him. She had definitely not seen this side of the man before—Guyunis's use of that word, and the boys being caught in smoking, to the side, he shouldn't be challenging her or her husband on their children or getting verbally violent or preachy with them.

The matter with Guyunis using that word was still being spoken of to that day, and Guyunis was starting to voice his desire in not wanting the man anywhere near him because of it. Efagti, according to her son, was using the time that she was at work, and that Tazir was either on Moas or with one or more of their sons, or Eshal, to approach and then "teach" him what words were appropriate to use during a conversation. The man was also giving him specific lectures on things that he either knew about or had yet to learn. While she understood that her brother-in-law was trying to help by telling her son that some people didn't like the use of that word, or hearing the other words that were considered curses, and was trying to explain to him some things that revolved around male teenage life, she knew that he was driving a wedge between himself and Guyunis. Guyunis was growing increasingly uncomfortable around him—he plain refused to sit near him, be near him when no one else was around, or let Sabine go within a foot of him. It seemed that the talk given to the man on the eleventh wasn't working; she and Tazir might need to either talk to him again or give his parents a call then send him home.

Efagti wasn't just gunning for Guyunis. He was also targeting Lazeer for being funny, or wanting to play the living room's game consoles, Hazaar for exhibiting his phase, Bile for being a bit aloof with his two friends, and Lhaklar for when he was nearly an hour late for curfew. He and Tazir had gone at it more than twice in the last two weeks, and he and she had gone at it once in the last week. Really, the only one who he hadn't had it out with was Eshal, who he was either okay with or thought he didn't need to impose on.

She knew the situation that was happening with Efagti's father, and she also knew that Amadh was still encountering issues with his hands. She was hoping that the stress from his worrying about them two issues was the cause for him to be turning into the man that she barely recognised—if that wasn't the issue, then she didn't know what was going on. She hoped that he either got over it on his own, then made a return to who she remembered him as being, or a simple talk between either her or Tazir, or both of them, would set him straight. The last she wanted was for them to move from the planet and have five boys who thought negatively of one of their relatives who were said to have a different personality than the Surfeit members of their family.

"Of the children, who are home?" Angel asked after pulling the plug to the sink then drying her hands on the towel that her husband was holding.

"None. All are out and about somewhere in, I presume, the town that we live near." TazirVile replied.

Or so he thought. The old foggy was presuming that they were in Elchesheim-Illingen when, in reality, they were scattered in odd places in the cities and towns that surrounded it. Being that their uncle was being such a turd with them, he and his brothers decided to spend some time in one of the teen hang-out spots that were around them. Eshal was in the park that was in Bietigheim; except for her, none of them were alone. Bile was with Angus and Aubin; they were in some place called The Old Gym, which was in Au am Rhein. Lhaklar was both with Astor, Seth, and Jarvis and in Rastatt's Dance Hall. Guyunis was with Giovanni; they were in some place called The Funhouse, which was in Durmersheim. And he was with Hazaar; his brother led him to the more renown hangout spot in Karlsruhe where not only games and music were played but specific beverages and food were made and consumed.

While he wanted to see some of the places that his brother visited either on a regular or irregular basis, his brother wanted to meet-up with one of his friends. While the Ball Pit in Durmersheim was sized appropriately for fifty people at a time, the Muse Fez only allowed for thirty at a time to come in. According to the electronic billboard, that was before the building's entrance, there were twenty inside; right after entering the establishment, he separated from his brother then went to play one of the games that were available to the ones who decided to come in then stay for a while. Hazaar, from the moment they walked in to about five minutes ago, sat at a table then waited. He was currently talking to a boy who stood three inches shorter than he; if he had to make any guesses on who he was, he'd bank on him being his brother's friend.

"The both of you, plus your brothers, need to either slow yourselves up in using these or stop all together before the move is made." he remembered his father saying on the thirteenth, after finding Hazaar's pack of Marlboro's beside his things.

With the both of them having as much as they did on them on that day, they decided to put it all on the coffee table then take a breather on the couch. Their father, along with eye-balling their purchases, came forward then took both packs of Marlboro's and Kamel's then targeted both of them for having purchased them. With his taking a cigarette from one of his brothers whenever he wanted a smoke, he didn't buy anying in the cigarette department while out and both browsing and buying what he needed and wanted for the month; his father didn't believe this when he told him it, and neither did his odd uncle.

Hazaar was more upset over the cigarettes being confiscated, while he was upset over being called out on something that he didn't do. He and his brother viewed their father as one of those hard-nosed libarians for a few hours before going out to get some fresh air; while Hazaar got himself two packs of Kamel's to replace the ones that were taken from him, he had a heart in getting him two packs of Marlboro's. While their father knew of their coming home with the smokes, he didn't have a chance to take them—their mother came up to prevent him from doing that.

Other than the instance where Hazaar had it out on the man on whether the mini stereos were coming with them when they moved to Moas, his brother had no other issues with him. He was surprised over hearing that all of their furnishings were to be left behind, and that their stereos were to be left to collect dust and all matter of bugs—even though their rooms on Moas had stereos in them, it would be nice to keep the things that they were given on their birthdays, plus the rest of what they saw in the catalogs that Mr. Leinart gave them on the thirty-first of July. If anything that they had went out between the move to Moas and then sometime down the road, they'd have something to act as "backup" until a replacement was found and then purchased.

"Course, dad'd probably say hogwash on that. With his being so money-leaden, he'd probably rush out to get a replacement for what broke or went out before the backup can be put in its place." Lazeer thought while leaving the game that he was playing.

The house was looking a little naked now. Some of the photographs, and portraits, on the walls were missing; some of the decorative things that their mother wanted to keep were missing from where they were placed; and their mother's room looked almost skeletal in appearance. If not for the bed, dresser, bedside table, and bookcase, they'd all wonder if their mother was sleeping in there—they knew she was, but the lack of what she owned in that room still made them wonder who slept or lived in it. In comparison to his mother's room, his room was lacking about fifty percent of its usually placed stuff. From what he could tell, his brothers' rooms looked the same as his—if not for the move being known to him, this would of given him a small spook.

Normally, he loved it when they packed for a move. The energy was good, as was the mood given from them, and the unknown of what they were moving into was enough to keep him up at night. On their other moves, it took about four or five days for them to get their stuff together and in boxes then into the new building that they were to reside in; he enjoyed the hustle and bustle of their moving about like their heads had been removed or just plain twisted the wrong way around, and their walking into one another in their haste to get things moved from the old residence to the new one, and the curiosity that gripped them after everything was all said and done with. On this upcoming move, he wasn't feeling any of them things. The energy wasn't good, and neither was the mood expressed or felt by any of them; while the unknown was doing its usual, it wasn't like it normally was. Instead of the move being done quickly, it was being done slowly and they weren't walking into one another or disclosing any defining bits of curiosity. If anything, he, and his brothers, were dreading this move.

"Wouldn't be doing that if dad wasn't forcing us to leave everything behind and then start anew." Lazeer said lowly.

The stopping of their having the friends that they gained while being in Germany was saddening. The upcoming loss of the furnishing that they owned was bad. The loss of their mini stereos was horrible. The probable loss of their independence, and of what they liked doing when it was light out, was depressing. And the old man thinking that he was above their mother, and that they were to adhere to all that he said with no lip, sass, or comments, was frustrating. With their mother, they received respect, but were still to follow and obey her; with their father, they seemed to be getting no respect, but were still expected to follow and obey his every command like soldiers in someone's military. Even if things had mellowed out in the house for them and their father, and sister, and they were on a little better terms with them, they were still apprehensive towards and with them—he and Hazaar "jumped" when they learned that the old foggy was to follow them to the Ball Pit, and they worried all while leading him to it about what he'd do after they got there then did their usual in mingling with the already present humans and interacting with the establishment's many balls.

The man, while accepting of their involvement in the building, and not voicing anything negative on who they spoke or hung around with, or consumed while there, didn't do anything but sit at a table and watch them. In a way, he and Hazaar felt like little children when they were there—the adult was watching them, and poised to go to them if anything came up; that was what they felt and thought when they saw that he was just sitting at one of the tables. If he moved around a little, or went to get something to eat or drink, or even spoke to one of the adults who were manning the security detail or cooking area, they would of felt better about him; as it was, they weren't as nervous of him anymore but were still nervous of how he saw their way of living.

"Guess there's time for both him, and Uncle Efagti, to work through their issues, and for us to figure them out." he thought before approaching his brother and his friend. Seeing as he had nothing better to do, other than play the establishment's games, listen to its music, and find something on its menu to eat or drink of course, he engaged the two in conversation. "Hey,"

Hazaar turned to acknowledge his brother then went to continue the conversation that he was having with the one who he saw more as an associate than a friend. From what he was able to gather from the kid, he was among the ones who were helped into the country earlier this year—his name was Javier Garcia; he was said to be seventeen, the oldest of his parents' four children, and pure Mexican. Up to a few months ago, he didn't know who he was or even knew he was in the country. The kid just walked up to him one day when he was standing under one of the trees in Elchesheim-Illingen's one park; he asked if he could bum a smoke from him, then if he could have a puff or two from the Kamel that he was smoking when he said he had no more on him. They started hanging around one another on an infrequent basis after he relented to his wanting to share his cigarette—seeing as he wouldn't leave him alone on that day, he just let him have the rest of his Kamel.

Most of the time, the kid just followed him around. It was the Muse Fez where most of their meetings took place in; he wasn't sure if the kid was gay, bi, or just plain lonely but he plain refused to leave him alone or go make other friends to hang around with. He had met the kid's father once—a man named Jose Garcia, who was just as Mexican as could be, from appearance on down to his accent—and he thought he was nice and presentable. Mr. Garcia worked in the Karlsruhe palace, while his wife was an accountant in a bank; if he was told that the man was the former senator of Utah, he would of come under the belief that he was working for the city's government, which moved to the palace in 3465.

Of the twenty in the building, he knew only a few. The one who was standing near the front of the line for register two was Louis Bradley. The one that was leaving the virtual car ride game was Louis's younger brother, Charles, and the one who looked about ready to leave was Susan Lee. The one who was just coming in was half-known to him; all he knew was her name, which was Bianca Capello. The Muse Fez was a fine place for youths to go and have fun in, and it was also a good place for youths to get together for plain conversation, or to discuss what they were to do later on in the day or week; he agreed to meet Javier here for only one reason—to tell him that the "time" they had in being "friends" was to be cut short here in a month.

"What do you mean you're "going away"?" Javier asked after he returned his attention to him. "Are you and your family moving or something?"

"Yes, and soon." Hazaar replied.

"Serious, or are you just trying to get rid of me for someone else?"

"If you don't believe me, ask my brother. He'll tell you the same as I—that me, and my family, are leaving in November". Hazaar gestured at his brother, then gave him a look that told him to agree with what he was saying. Lazeer blinked his eyes then nodded his head; he did as was wanted of him.

"That's right. We're to be moved far from here in nearly a month's time."

What happened was reminiscent to how his other two associates reacted to what he told them on the impending move. Unlike his brothers, who either made time or just bumped into the ones who they found themselves as befriending, he hadn't made any friends while living in Germany; too much was happening for that to happen, and he wasn't one to do the spontaneous friend thing. The ones that he hung around with on an irregular basis didn't have his phone number, nor had asked for it, and they didn't have or know his home address, and they had never asked for it. All they did was hang around one another, jowl themselves on certain things that they had a mutual interest in, then separate; to him, this wasn't a friendship. This was more like an association, which, to him, was very different. While he felt a bit dragged down by how Javier was reacting to his leaving their association circle, he knew he was going to be okay. Like himself, he'd pick himself up, dust himself off, then find someone else to hang ar—

"Hey!" Hazaar snapped after his now-former associate's fist struck his arm, then came close to hitting him in the face.

"Imbécil! Usted me usó, y ahora está tratando de deshacerse de mí!" Javier's brown eyes danced wildly in his face, which looked decidedly red despite being brown.

"No, I didn't. I'm just telling you that I won't be around much longer and that you—" Hazaar started to say. In reality, he hadn't used the kid for anything like he was implying he did. About a week ago, when he saw the two video games that he thought would go well with the game console that Guyunis had, but noticed that the store's owner wasn't to sell them to him because he was an "alien", he asked Javier if he could go in then purchase them for him. When the kid did so, he reimbursed him for what he spent on them; while he was sans €200, which he stole from Lhaklar to make the purchase, he was happy with what he got and was grateful for Javier's help in getting it for him. If he was dumping his associate right after that transaction happened, he'd see himself as being an asshole; seeing as a whole week had gone past, and that this was the first time that they had seen each other since that transaction took place, he didn't seem himself as being what Javier just called him.

"You're a chump... I hope you enjoy wherever you and your pathetic family move to, and have fun when karma comes to nip you for what you did to me." while Javier's yell attracted some attention, and his tears caught some sympathy, his charge from the building caused many to think that he was either retarded or just upset over learning that his gay lover just dropped him.

"Dude, thanks for showing me how Eli, Killian, and Kiefer will react when I go to tell them that we're moving soon." Lazeer said after Javier left.

"With the way they are upstairs, I think you and they will be fine when its told to them." Hazaar said while going to check his arm for bruising, which would appear a little later on that afternoon, and cause his parents, and uncle, to think that he was in a fight somewhere.

Seeing as how he "disrupted" the building's non-confrontational air, he left then went down the street. Surprisingly, Lazeer came with him. They spent about an hour in one of the bars that were on the street that their brother's workplace was on before going to the mall; before entering, they did the spell that prevented the smell of alcohol from being detected on them—while at the bar, he consumed half of a Bud Light then gave the rest to his beer-virgin baby brother, who made the face that he usually disclosed when he smoked once the first swig was down. Once in the mall, they window shopped, then bought two things that they thought Eshal and Guyunis would like, then turned to leave.

It was just their luck that, when they were nearing the exit, their uncle, and group of teenage girls, were seen as approaching them. Seeing as a bunch of girls were coming their way, he stopped then took in a breath; if not for his uncle, he would of put the idea of acting like a stud to practice.

Since Efagti had longer legs than the girls, and was a few steps in front of them, he reached them first. While they were curious about his being in the mall—when they left the house, he was all holed up in his room reading some magazine that he was going to strides in keeping hidden from all who passed his half-open door—, they didn't speak or even question why his presence was where it was.

"Hey." Hazaar said to his uncle.

"Hey there." Efagti said. He then turned his attention to the one nephew of his who hadn't acknowledged him. "Lazeer."

"Uncle Efagti." Lazeer responded.

"Looks like you've been buying things again."

"Just something for Eshal and Guyunis." Lazeer said before Hazaar could.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate what you've gotten them." Efagti said. He was about to say something else when a feminine voice overshadowed his.

"What's this we're hearing about you and your family moving?"

When he entered the building, he knew that he had company coming in behind him. The group of five female teenagers picked up his trail right after he appeared on the street's start, then started following him; while annoyed over this, he was telling himself to remain calm. He knew that they weren't looking for trouble. They were, more or less, curious about him and were following that up by stalking him. He was hoping that they'd move on, and allow him to get in the fresh air and sunshine that he decided he needed—with the temperature flunctuating the way it was for the last three days, he couldn't stay out for long and, really, neither could they or his nephews.

Eshal had already come home, as had Bile and Lhaklar. With Guyunis still showing the signs of being wary of him, he wasn't putting much worry in on where he was or what he was doing; he was sure that he was in some structure that's temperature was more assured. With Hazaar and Lazeer not being home yet, or showing any wariness of him, he decided to see if he could bump into them while taking a walk towards and then in the mall that was in Karlsruhe—he was glad to see that they were still wearing their coats, and were being wise in sticking near structures that one could go in to get warm if it suddenly grew to being unfavorably cold outside.

The weather was really starting to make his skin crawl. When the whole of the Surfeit and Ubalki clans were on the planet, it was fluey but not like it was now. Back then, they could move around or do small changes in their routines to accommodate what was happening outside; nowadays, no one could do that. The storms were increasing in power, the cold and warm periods were either very short or long lived, and no one who handled the stations where the weather was predicted and then shown to the ones who needed to know what was to happen on certain days of the week to plan things for either work or their family were able to keep up or predict what was to happen with the weather.

"Shouldn't be much longer before it evens out, and returns to normal." his brother said yesterday, when he questioned him on the weather's erratic behavior.

While he knew nothing of how one went by entering a planet while driving a ship, or the effects of such an entrance, he did know certain things on how climate worked and changed. Sometimes, something small was needed to knock the climate out of whack and, othertimes, it took a big catastrophe for a massive change to happen; he was starting to wonder if his brother's quick entrance to the planet in October of last year didn't do something to the climate, and that trouble was on the horizon for all who lived on the planet that said climate was on. The weather should of cleared up a while ago, his conscious was telling him; things should of calmed down and everyone should of returned to schedule a few months ago.

When he entered the mall, he was greeted by a warm gust of air that caused him to stop for just a second. After seeing his nephews, he got over the sudden change in temperature then went towards them; curiously, the teenage girls did the same. Up to now, he had figured that they were interested in wanting to follow him and only him. Now that he was before his nephews, and one of the girls behind him had spoken, he knew better. He might of been followed earlier by curiosity but, right now, the girls were focused on his nephews. After discovering this, he stood by. Just in case Hazaar and Lazeer needed help with anything.

"Yes, we're moving in nearly a month's time." Hazaar responded to the girl who led her group.

"Don't suppose it's because of Master Vile's "declaration" of making settlements on this part of the planet then having certain alien families move in?" the girl, who had long, naturally curly brown hair, deep brown eyes, and darkly tanned skin, asked.

"No, and I don't think he'll follow through with doing that." Hazaar said.

"With there being only fifty or so families on the planet's other side, I don't think so either." Lazeer said. "What's the point in doing that, and using up unneeded resources and money, when there's no benefit to it?"

"He'd have to start from scratch, and run the risk of the ones who move over here getting zapped by the shields and then sue him for the injuries that they receive." Hazaar said.

"My dad said that there was something fishy with the tone of his voice when he made that speech—I doubt if he does it too." the girl behind the group's leader said. Except for her dark brown eyes, this girl looked very Hawaiian in appearance.

"If it's not Master Vile's declaration of moving other people over here, then what's making you and your family move?" the first girl asked.

Efagti watched the faces of his nephews and the girls closely while the bit on why Tazir was moving his family to Moas was explained. While Hazaar spoke most on the subject, he didn't seem to show any signs of stress or emotion that he thought he would exhibit; Lazeer, on the other hand, did show some signs of stress from the upcoming move but, surprisingly, kept them to a minimum. The girls spoke for a long time with his nephews, and showed a decent amount of emotion towards the impending move, before switching to talking about why his nephews' father wouldn't help the ones overseas in getting out from under Master Vile's tyranny. While his nephews were vague in talking on this subject, they did say that they had no say on it but agreed that Master Vile did need to be ousted—and before something dreadful happens, as Hazaar so put it. Following the discovery that the group's leader was one of the daughters of one of the overseas nation's leaders, and that another in her group was her younger sister, he gave his nephews the signal to end the conversation then move on, which they reluctantly did.

"The last thing that Angel and Tazir need is for one of the kids of one of the former leaders of the overseas nations to pursuade their sons into being delinquents, or hassling them into doing something that they don't want to do." Efagti thought after seeing his nephews off, then turning to continue the activity that he was there to do. Before thirty minues were up, and he went home following a near disastrous encounter with a woman who tried her damnedest to both follow and pressure him into taking her home, he felt proud of himself for preventing something from happening within his brother's family.


	34. Chapter 34

"He won't do it." Horace thought after seeing the face of the man on tv.

One can learn a lot about the person who's speaking by just looking at how they present themselves, or how their face is set. If one's moving too much, they might be nervous. If one's avoiding eye contact, or has a glassy look in the eyes, they're lying. If one's avoiding certain questions, or acting evasive, they're keeping something back. For the man on tv, most this was present. The glowing, golden-yellow eyes, that had a single, black pupil in their centers, were very glassy; they were also darting all over the place. The face, which was half dark blue and half yellow, looked close to sweaty. The big body, while still behind the podium, was giving off an aura of uncertainty. And the one who owned all of this was either refusing to answer certain questions or avoiding them by speaking of something else. Even though this was being seen by him, the man was still going on about how he was planning to make settlements on the major continents of the eastern hemisphere.

Despite his belief on what he just thought, he didn't speak. The apartment around him was quiet. If not for the heater being on, he would of felt cold; it was sure cold during the periods where the temperature dropped between September 12 and 15, and then again between the sixteenth and yesterday. Even though he and his wife had jobs, and worked during the peak daylight hours, they still experienced the erratic weather that happened last week. The weather this week, so far, was taking both a similar and not similar route. He couldn't help but feel an extra drag because of it; the weather being back to unpredictable, he and his family's living situation, and what was going on overseas was making him feel depressed and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

If he had spoken his depression to one who didn't know who he was, or what he went through from May of last year to January of this one, he would of heard the usual. Oh, you and your family have just gotten through in getting settled in a new place and have to get use to regular routine. Oh, you're just blue because you've yet to find your niche here. Oh, you just came home from work and are just coming down from the stress that your job throws you. In reality, he would of told the ones who said any of that, his depression was a lot more dense than that. Deep down, he knew it came from his former career and his knowing that his people were suffering and that he could do nothing to help them.

Last year, he was called the President of the United States while, this one, he was called a simple postmaster. All day, he delivered mail and drove a truck from one residence to another; the idea of getting a job for one of the country's governments had come to him but, with his back issues, he knew he couldn't do so. Why get a job in government when you can't keep up, or are so fraught with pain that you can't come in or do what's expected of you? Yes, with his experience in being a senator for Kentucky, and a Navy officer, he would be an asset to Germany's government but why bother when his back was giving him the issues that it was.

He had only just started acting as the CEO of the United States when that bastard Vile swooped into the shield then sent him, and most of the people who worked the capital, into hiding. He and his family, and the ones who fronted the Legislative and Judicial branches and their families, went into hiding in the catacombs and bases that were under Mount Rushmore for nearly a year before deciding to move after seeing that their safe haven was being encroached upon; after being helped into Germany, they were given a medical check-up before being given fully furnished and stocked lodgings and then some money to get on their feet. Some of them found jobs right away, while others were either slow in doing so or decided to retire. Some of them stayed in Germany, while others moved to some other country then settled in to living there. While the temptation was there for him and his to move after them trolls started flooding the shields, then fighting the German military, he decided to keep them here and continue as is. While his wife, who worked previously as a dress designer, was back to her old trade, and the girls were back to being in school and learning what they needed to survive academically, and seemed to be happy with their lives, it took him a while to find work and he was now no longer happy with how things were going.

"The welfare of my people, and what's going on with them now that they're being ruled by that alien, was on my mind earlier this year... after the man decreed that others in the Universe could move in, then settle in among the ones who I use to govern over, and then abandoned them to everyone's mights, it started to be felt more." Horace thought while leaning back in the chair that was in the apartment's living room.

Winifred, his wife of eighteen years, was the one to call him over when Master Vile declared that the Americas were open for alien inhabitation. While he watched what was being shown on tv, and started worrying about both his people and the ones who were to move in among them, his wife shook her head then sat beside him. Their daughters saw the news the following day and felt the same as they did on what was to happen with the continent, and its neighbor, that they use to live on. It was very much like they were attending church when the broadcasts were done on the aliens that moved in—once something was seen on the news pertaining to the Americas, they sat before the tv then said not a peep on what they were seeing until after it was over. From what last night's news claimed, there were around fifty-five alien families, and about ten single-living aliens, in the Americas now; each were not able to leave and were being subjected to constant abuse by the ones who didn't want them on their soil. Master Vile was putting more concern in on the structures that were built during his reign; he didn't seem to be showing a care towards either the ones who moved into the Americas or the ones who he ruled over initially.

"If it was I in his place, I'd of stop all of that from happening. The ones who move in would be welcomed warmly, would receive some sort of help if they found themselves as struggling, and wouldn't be subjected to what's going on. Granted, there would be some who'd disgrace them, and want them nowhere near them or have any association with them, but most everyone else would be cool and calm towards them—a steady leader would help them, where one who's more focused on material things wouldn't." he thought after the first dozen alien families moved into the Americas then started experiencing the stresses that the ones who lived around them were throwing them.

With no way to gain the United States back to his control, he couldn't help a soul who lived there. All he could do was do as he was here then watch what was broadcast on the news on what was going on overseas. According to President Leinart, a man who he had spoken with twice before finding himself as having to move to Mount Rushmore, and who he met once just after winning the bid for his country's presidency, all of what happened on the eastern hemisphere stayed on the eastern hemisphere—the ones who lived over here could see and learn about what was going on overseas but the ones overseas couldn't see or learn about what was happening here. While Master Vile knew he was here, he couldn't get in to retrieve or cull him and he couldn't follow up with anything that he threatened the various governments over here with. All of what he said was hot air; nothing but, which was why he was taking this new declaration of alien settlements being made with the intention of integrating the European, Eurasian, and Island peoples with the ones of non-Earthly descent so lightly.

"Don't suppose you have a system here where, after the usurper passes, or decides to up and abandon the areas in his control, the oldest descendant of the one who was formerly in control of them areas can come in then assume command?" he remembered the one who his planet's heroine was married to saying.

"People from the olden times did that, yes." he recalled replying.

"I'd resurrect that practice, teach it to your children, then either in-act it yourself when my nephew looks to be growing bored with the Americas or have one of your children's descendants do it."

His trip to see the Irene's was mostly done to see if he could gain a powerful ally who'd help him in getting the Americas back to the control of the ones who had them last. All while driving to Elchesheim-Illingen, he coached himself on how to speak to the man, and how to present himself towards him; while he told himself to expect some opposition, and maybe some back-talk, he also convinced himself that if the man was his heroine's husband then he was good and would help him. What he got when he got to the residence that his heroine and her family lived in was far from what he expected—the alien refused to help him, and he also told his wife that she could no longer step in to help the ones who saw her as their heroine. All while driving back to the apartment that his family lived in, he wondered if the alien was really married to Miss. Irene, or if he was working in Master Vile's favor by telling her what he did. Some husbands were so dominating that their wife's literally jumped at their every word for fear of being abused—Miss. Irene looked to be in good health, and had not a scratch or bruise on her; with her being who she was, he doubted if she was letting herself succumb to the fear of a probable abusive husband.

Miss. Irene's husband claimed to be living on one of the planets that were in Master Vile's control... this, in itself, didn't sound right. Why was the man living on a planet that Master Vile had control of, and why was he moving his family to said planet? Yes, thanks to his daughters, and Jose Garcia's oldest son, he knew of the impending move and, yes, he was saddened over it and concerned for the ones who were to be apart of it—along with worrying about the alien being too overly dominating towards the ones who he said were family to him, he worried that he was to force them into being citizens of Vile's and then force them from being the good people that they were.

It took him three days to go to the library in Karlsruhe and then look up the information on past rulers who descended from one who was usurped by someone. He was surprised by what he found. While he knew that Oliver Cromwell usurped Charles II after Charles's father, Charles I, was beheaded, he didn't find a single thing on it in the books that he looked at. Oliver Cromwell was one of the key figures who put Charles I away; it was said that he took to being Lord Protector, or ruler of England, Scotland, and Ireland, soon after Charles was beheaded and that he had little trouble in saying yes. Oliver was also said to of prevented Charles II from returning to power; Charles lived in exhile in mainland Europe for up to nine years before returning to England then being given his inheritance—the crown. Charles II only regained the crown after Oliver's death and his son abdictated the position that his father succeeded him. Even though Charles had several children, none ascended the throne after their father died—most were by illegitimate means, while the ones bore to him by his wife were miscarried; many years down the road, after the son of Queen Elizabeth II died, his oldest son, William, who descended from two of Charles's illegitimate sons, was crowned king of England.

Even though he knew this, he found nothing on it in the library. Due to the events of the third World War, where certain solidiers had a field day in going into librarians or other structures where documents were held, then took and destroyed what they found of what the scholars who did vast research on the olden days created, hardly anything from back before the seventeen hundreds was known anymore. With this known to him, he sat back then lavished on the chore that he was told to do and that he didn't want to do; when he left the library two hours later, he felt ten pounds heavier and ten years older. It took him a few weeks to tell his daughters what was going on and that one of their descendants might need to take over where he left off before Master Vile came in to mess things up. Of his daughters, it seemed that Ashleigh was the one who looked up to the part in doing this—he overheard her one day saying that she wasn't to change her surname when she married and that she was going to do her best to get her children to retain her name over that of their father's.

"Didn't the guy who came over here a few days ago shake his head at the area that was wanted to be flattened of what was in it then leave?" Rebecca, his oldest daughter and child, who was closing in on eighteen, asked after the news broadcast ended.

"Yeah... Odd fellow, who seemed to be just as nervous as he was short." Ashleigh, who just turned fourteen, replied.

"The other men who he sent to this side of the planet to get the areas that they looked to be assigned in flattening, and preparing for construction, left either soon after seeing what they appeared near or did a little bit of work on what they were given before shaking their heads then leaving too." Winifred, his pretty Hawaiian wife, who Ashleigh took after most, said.

"Which makes me wonder why the man doesn't come to facts in leaving this side of the planet be. It's very apparent that no construction will happen here, and that no aliens will be moving over here." Horace said.

The man, from what he could tell, was free-picking the areas and then throwing out instruction for them to be worked on. The areas that he chose to be worked on were in steep valleys, near certain water sources, close to where the shields were, and on mountain peaks—all that were topographically unstable for any form of steady living. He wondered if the man was frustrated over hearing that his contractors weren't able to clear or fix them up, or if he was plain ignorant to the fact of their not being able to sustain a suitable living space for any degree of people to live on or in for any span of time. From what he was able to discern on the news last week, the man was intent on "starving" the nations in the eastern hemisphere—the tunnels that Miss. Irene made many hundreds of years ago, which connected mainland Europe and Eurasia with the island nations, were under "heavy" seige by his troops. They were using this submarine like thing to fire at them, and make them cave in on themselves; so far, they were holding up and repelling what was being cast at them. Pretty much everyone agreed that anything the man did to "starve" Europe, Eurasia, and the eastern hemisphere islands was for nothing, himself and his family included.

"Maybe the continuous issues that are happening over here, in his not being able to go with his "ambitions" in turning some of this part of the planet over to the ones who aren't of this world, will cause him to raise the flag then leave." Horace thought before shutting the tv off then turning to tell his family it was time to go to bed.

Surprisingly, between the hours of October 18 and the morning hours of the following day, there was a change of either mind or heart going on with Master Vile's plan. According to the news, Master Vile dropped his interest in wanting to make any type of settlements in the eastern hemisphere. The man just said that he'd deal with it on another day when the question was presented on when he'd go for another try. The man was to now "concentrate" on the issue that was happening in Canada and New England—while details were vague, the reporter did say that it was medical in origin. This caused him to think that some of the aliens were bringing strands of unknown viruses to the planet and then letting them spread by normal, innocent means—coughing, sneezing, etc.

Following the consumption of breakfast, then watching the news, they got ready to go to work and school. Naturally, the apartment was locked up when everyone left; after doing two hours of early-morning mail deliveries, and worrying about the funnels that were dropping from the sky only to return to their source, he decided to go home and see what was going on with the fridge. When he saw that they were low on some things, but fine on others, he nodded his head then left to continue delivering the mail. About thirty minutes later, he found himself as stopping the mail-issue truck that he was given then getting out—he started following the two men that he just happened on... one that he knew while the other he didn't.

Even though he hung back from them, he kept himself within hearing distance; who knew, maybe they were talking on something that he needed to know, or that needed to be known by someone who had better pull where he was.

"You sure we should be out here? With the sky looking the way it does, and them unstable twisters forming—" the taller alien, who had dark blue skin, and wasn't wearing a tuxedo, started asking his companion.

"Been three days of our experiencing them funnels; think with the weather being the way it is, nothing will form or cause any damage. We should be safe." his planet's heroine's so-called husband replied.

"Been keeping my eye on the sky since the sixteenth... Think I'm about to get jiggy-legged with all the weather changes that're taking place." the first alien said.

"Know what you're saying. Feel the same way." the second one replied.

Which was only accelerating his need for wanting his family from the planet. While the weather on Moas was sometimes annoying—the near-constant, nine months out the year seventy to seventy-seven degree temperatures were good, but the two to three ocean storms that blew in made a mess and did cause one to lose some sleep—, it was better than what was happening here. Least the ones who lived on Moas didn't have to worry about the sudden change in the weather, or about changing their plans because of its erratic behavior. The same went with the ones who forecast the weather; least they didn't have to worry about their predictions being wrong, or their not being able to keep up or do as they were employed to do.

For the last three days, his family had stayed home and "cooped" up. Even Angel was staying home, which was a good relief to him and Efagti—the last they needed to worry about was if one of the unstable funnel's actually touched down, became stable, then went straight for her workplace. Angel was doing her best to keep Eshal busy, while the boys were doing well in doing the same. Books were being read, tv was being watched, the models were being built, music was being listened to, and, of course, Hazaar was keeping a good eye on the window nearest him. The only one in the house that wasn't preoccupied, or keeping things to a low during this stressful time, was his brother. Efagti, while cooling out towards the boys on the sixteenth, returned to snapping at them for the strangest of reasons—for going down to use their Cave's weights, for playing the game systems in the living room after receiving permission to do so, for talking simple things at the table, and for leaving certain things lying about in the kitchen and dining room. Efagti had actually gotten on Guyunis the other day after he stepped on Sabine's tail—there was no cause in his doing that, since it was his fault in doing it. Seeing as things were getting a bit out of hand with his brother, and that Angel was now talking about sending him home, he decided to take him for a walk in the nearby city of Karlsruhe and then discuss with him what was wrong.

He agreed with Angel. Efagti wasn't being himself. Both he and his wife had pinned the issue on different things; Angel claimed that it revolved around what was going on with his father, while he said it was more mental and physical and based around his present living conditions. Cheshire, from what he read in the papers, and heard over the phone, was doing well—he had recently shown proof of his innocence over what happened with his mine, and was close to having the court cases between him and the families of his deceased workers be worked out. The man was, more or less, turning most of his attention towards the one who jipped him on some cash and tried to make it seem that he was the guilty party. By the time he and his family left Earth, Cheshire would be back to mining, and his overseer might be seeing jail-time.

The house wasn't ideal for a family of nine to live peacefully in. While everyone was co-existing, there were tensions that he thought a bigger residence would even out. The personalities in the house were different, yes, which was normal, but for them to clash like they were for the last month wasn't. Efagti was using his phone to talk with his parents on a twice daily basis, and his portable computer to keep some sort of conversation going on with his siblings once a day, and was getting spell-sent mail from his friends who knew where he was and what he was doing; with this being known, he knew that the issue didn't lie in his plain missing home, his family, or friends. Judging by how some of Bile and Lhaklar's pornographic magazines were found in the room that his brother was given to sleep in, he thought the issue lie in simple stimulation—Efagti wanted to, but was keeping himself from doing it and, thus, putting himself through some stress.

"If that's the problem, I'll have a hard time in not laughing." TazirVile, who knew nothing of his or his brother's follower, thought.

It wasn't hard to imagine the stress that his brother was going through if that was what was wrong with him. On the twelfth, when he decided to take him out for a simple stroll of the house's neighborhood, he was treated to seeing some of what he thought was going on. The women were eyeing him, and two came up to speak to him—they forgot all about him, who they probably knew was married and unavailable, but they took a keen interest in his brother, which he thought was hilarious in a twisted sort of way. The human females were showing their curious side, which was only natural. He wondered if the ones overseas were experiencing this, or if the humans were completely oblivious of their curiosity because of the vast hate that they felt over someone who wasn't of their own kind moving in among them; with the way things were over there, he wouldn't be surprised if the latter was happening. Things were so out of hand over in the Americas that he was shocked over Vile's decision to both concentrate on making places over here for peoples of other worlds to move into and cripple the nations that he couldn't get into by removing the underseas trade routes—while one was now no longer being done, the other was. Vile was intent on hurting the eastern nation countries and was using up a lot of fire power and resources to do it.

"Take it that you didn't notice the light that went on downstairs last night?" Efagti asked.

"Light? What light?" TazirVile replied.

"A red one." Efagti said.

"No. Never noticed it. Once I was in bed, I went to sleep."

"It was red, and quite vibrant, which makes me believe it came from your wife's hair."

"Which is absurd. Angel, like myself, fell right to sleep right after after getting in bed." TazirVile said.

"You sure she didn't slip out undetected?" Efagti asked.

"With seeing how my arm was around her when I went to sleep, and it still being around her when I woke up, yes."

Even though they had only just resumed sleeping in the same bed, he knew his wife's habits well. Once she went to bed, she stayed in bed. She didn't get up to use the bathroom, get a drink of water, or do some exercise after finding herself unable to go to sleep. If they had sex, or did any playful actions, she stayed where she was; he didn't know what his brother was talking about and, honestly, he thought he was seeing things. The house was quiet last night, and all of the children were in bed and doing as they should, and so were he and his wife. It seemed that the only one to not be doing as he should, which was sleeping, was Efagti.

This didn't come as a surprise to him. Efagti was known to be a light sleeper, and to make the decision to either sit up after finding himself as unable to go to sleep or move around some. Maybe a car, that had red headlights, pulled into the neighbor across the street's parking space and he saw it or something—up to that moment, he had heard nothing of no one seeing any red, vibrant lights in the house.

"Lazeer told his friends that you and yours are to move next month." Efagti said, jogging him from his thoughts.

"Yes, I know." just before the funnels started being seen as forming, but not touching down, his youngest son called his friends then told them what was to happen to him and his family in November. He couldn't be happier of his boy; instead of begging him to let him keep his friends, or have some sort of way to keep in contact with them, he was telling them that they'd have to go on with life without him. From what he could tell, the Kassmeyer twins took the news well. Mr. Mendelsohn, on the other hand, did get a bit emotional when the news was broke; Eli got over his hysteria, and agreed to continue being friends with Lazeer until the move was made.

"Have Bile, Lhaklar, and Guyunis done so?" Efagti asked.

"Think Lhaklar gave his friends the news on what's to happen in November yesterday. Guyunis is too attached to Giovanni to tell him, and Bile's friends found out through Hazaar what's going on." TazirVile replied.

"Going to talk to Guyunis about how he is with Giovanni, and how he'll need to forget him when the move's made?"

"In the coming days, yes."

Horace gasped, then ducked behind the tallest thing that could obscure him after one of the two men turned to see if they were being followed. TazirVile, after seeing that the street behind him and his brother was empty, turned back then continued walking. Once the issue on the boys' friends being told that they couldn't keep being what they were with his sons was disclosed, he and his brother spoke on something else. Efagti focused on Vile next, then on the funnel that was seen as forming to their east, which went back into the sky before it could settle on the ground, then again on Vile before going quiet. They spent around ten minutes of saying nothing to one another; they just walked, and took in the sights, and the funnels that tried to form but only failed to do so, before he decided to ask what he wanted to. Efagti, as was only natural of a man who was discovered of something, jumped after his question was asked.

"I don't mean to get on everyone as much as I am. I'm only trying to help out, and do things to keep my mind off things." his brother said.

"The women of this planet seem to have a good eye for you. Noticed enough when we were walking through the neighborhood that the house is in—they like you, and are curious." TazirVile said.

"I don't necessarily like them as in wanting to date or marry them, but I've felt a pull in wanting to try one before I leave next month." Efagti confided.

"Why don't you? Maybe it'll help—you're stressed out because of your need, and are letting it show on your family."

"I really don't mean to be the way I am with the boys, Tazir. If you were in my shoes, would you engage one of the women on this world or muster through your troubles and then take care of them after moving back home?" Efagti asked.

"If I was single, and had no children to worry about, I would consider it. Some of the women on this planet are right attractive, but none compare to Angel." TazirVile replied.

"Gave me a scare there until you mentioned your wife's name."

"There's just no comparison to my wife when another woman's involved."

"Take it that, if I do it, you'd want me to speak none of it to no one, yourself included?" Efagti asked.

"I see no wrong in you speaking small bits on what you do with who you choose to take your curiosity out on, but, do please, keep it between us and leave Angel, the boys, and Eshal, in the dark on it." TazirVile replied. "Might need to do the same with your parents, and siblings."

"Alright. Think, when the weather shapes up, I'll see who I can find then go with my impulses."

"Do her good, but use a condom... or the spell, or potion. The last you need is a hybrid child from one of these people."

"True that!"

Horace, who had heard enough of what the two men, who he thought were perverts, were saying, turned then went back to his truck. In his mind, he was appalled by the notion of the Irene boys being forced into forgetting their friends, and of their friends forgetting them, and of his heroine's husband thinking that he had enough pull to make both parties do this. Why, when he and his family were moving after he won the presidency, he made sure that his girls retained their friends and had a way to see and interact with them. Winifred was given the same opportunity, and right, to keep and see her friends. While people did move away, and establish new friends, and either grew distant from their old ones or dropped them, most did have a wish to keep their old friends and were allowed to make ways to keep in contact and see them; he saw no reason in the Irene boys not being allowed to keep their friends, or being allowed to stay in contact with them. If anything, he thought he just witnessed a form of what his planet's heroine, and her children, had to face when the eventual move to whatever planet the alien was moving them to was done.

While the thought of alien-human hybrids disgusted him, and the thought of what could befall the woman who the one alien decided to have a go with both during the deed and after the could-be pregnancy was noticed and then came to a close concerned him, he was more disgusted by the air that the husband of his planet's heroine carried around him. He shook his head after getting in his vehicle then cursed himself for thinking that the guy might help in him getting the Americas back—after hearing what he just did, he wanted no help by him in anything.

"Wonder if all them non-Earthly ones think the same way as he." Horace thought while continuing with his mail route.


	35. Chapter 35

The water was dark. Flowing with all sorts of nasty things. And looked to be right putrid. Despite these things, the monster stood right in the middle of it. Instead of having the water sloshing around his feet, or ankles, or even coming up to his knees, he had it coming right up to his face. His stringy, orange hair was matted to his head; his silver-dollar bright eyes the only thing one could find themselves dragged to; and his pasty white face, that had red-painted lips on it, looking ever devious. The ones around him, his two siblings, and their uncle did only as expected when this cinema monster leaped up then ran towards the one who he was stalking. As was only natural of a monster to do, he shook his head like a dog and howled to make his victim grow terrified of him.

The desired effect of the audience being scared to death by this sight did the trick in making the ceiling rain on them. Efagti, the only one of them who felt no fear over what was happening on the screen, brushed the popcorn that found itself on his shoulders; instead of doing the same, he, Lhaklar, and Eshal left the pieces of 'corn on them. They watched in stunned silence as the monster charged towards the boy who stood before it, then as the boy rose his hands in a defensive manner, then as the monster suddenly vanished. The ones around them sent up a chorus of huh's after the monster disappeared then, like him and his siblings, started searching for it; breathes were caught and then held when the boy stepped away from the door that he was standing before then, they presumed, did as they in looking for the one who was after him. After ten seconds of muscle-restrained suspense, the thing that everyone, from movie attender to the one on screen, was looking for happened. The monster, instead of appearing from out of nowhere, or dropping down from the sewer's moss and vine covered ceiling to grab his prey, threw the door that the boy was formerly standing before open then went for what he wanted. Eshal screamed; Lhaklar groaned; his jaw dropped; and the muscle in Efagti's arms moved when the sight of the monster running into the boy was seen. Right before their eyes, they saw white-gloved hands tearing into the boy. The shirt was torn into ribbons, then flesh was ripped into strips; while the image on the screen panned over to the left, the boy screamed for what seemed like forever. The last thing they saw of this scene was of the blood being thrown on the wall. The screams continued until the screen darkened, then the scene changed over to one that looked drastically different than it.

"Seems like whenever I wake up, the sky's darker, or more far away." the girl in this new scene said.

"Jumping at shadows, Marsh." the skinny, Jewish boy who had brown hair and a pointy nose said.

"I'm not, and I can't be the only one to notice the drop in temperature these past few weeks... or how the clouds sweep in to cover the sun when—"

"Normal. When the clouds move in, it usually drops a degree or two." the boy interrupted the girl.

"It's normal when, on days when the disappearances happen, this happens?" the girl who the boy identified as Marsh asked.

The scene showed a total of five children of around eleven or twelve years. They were sitting, or standing, in a building or structure that looked similar on the inside to a clubhouse. The wood walls were decorated with posters, and tin signs; the ceiling, oddly enough, looked smooth and near-green in color; and the floor looked to be made out of dirt. The girl was sitting on a chair, while the boy was pacing. While the girl looked concerned, the boy was stressed; he also looked to be trying to convince himself on something that, throughout the movie, he didn't want to believe.

The boy paced to and fro for a while before turning then going to one of the chairs that weren't taken. Once seated, he shook his head then reached down to pat the pocket that the audience knew his bird book was in.

"Who's missing now?" the boy who had near-black, brown hair, and wore large glasses over his blue eyes, asked.

"Eddie Corcoran." the girl said. "One of our class—"

"He ran away." the skinny boy was fast in saying.

"No he didn't!" the girl grew rather alarmed in the face.

"Yes he did. Both of his parents, and the school, say he did. The police too."

"He couldn't of ran aw—"

"Beverly, you know as well as me that things at home weren't the best for him. His father was beating him, and his mother was ignoring him, and he just got his rank card, which showed that his grades weren't the best." the skinny boy who just identified one of his companions pointed out. "It's obvious on what happened—after seeing how bad his grades were, he grew fearful of going home, and facing his father and his fists. He decided to run away for a while before returning to a bunch of parents who are too relieved to discipline him."

"How does that account for the others who are missing?" the bespeckled boy asked. "Not all of them ran away."

"They're keeping it almost canon to how the book was written." Lazeer said.

Er, well, sort of. The scene that was just watched wasn't in Stephen King's 1986 novel and neither was the one of Pennywise turning into an old hag to lure the young boy from his bike. The same went with how Butch Bowers was portrayed as a racist cop, and how Mike Hanlon's father was now named Leroy instead of William. From what he could tell, the remake was around eighty-five to ninety percent true to the novel.

He couldn't help but see the bits that came from the Andrés Muschietti film, which went out to the masses in 2017 but didn't gain what was expected of it because of the back-to-back plagues that were going on. The Andrés Muschietti film was put in a vault following its theatrical debut then mostly forgotten; when it was recently discovered, it was found to be mostly eaten away with dust. The people involved with the new remake decided to save what they could of it then make up new scenes to go with it; as far as he could tell, the film was kick-ass and more than deserving to be owned by him.

The trailer was shown two weeks ago, and the film started being shown in theaters a week ago. Once he saw the trailer, he went nuts; it took two minutes before he started lamenting the purchases that he made that month—instead of having enough for a ticket, he was broke. With his finding himself as having no money on him, he went to see Lhaklar about possibly getting some cash from him so he wouldn't miss out on seeing it. Lhaklar, at first, said no on giving him any money so he could see the movie. Naturally, he rang out all of these things on how he should be responsible in keeping something from what he was given each month to fall back on when these situations happen, and that he should know better than to bug his brothers for money for things. Lhaklar's 'tude on helping him in seeing the movie changed yesterday, when he saw the trailer. Along with barging into his room, he threw him €20 then said that he saw what he did and also wanted to see it; following this, he turned then practically found himself as running into their sister, who was trying to walk past him at the time.

"Uh-uh! No way are you two going anywhere when them spouts are still being seen." Eshal said that morning, after learning that he and Lhaklar were going to the theater in town to see the movie.

"Going to superglue our behinds to our chairs?" he remembered asking her.

"We'll be inside, so we'll be safe." Lhaklar said.

"And them twisters aren't having ground contact, so you shouldn't worry on us." he said.

The matter of who went to the movie went back and forth for most of that morning, and about a quarter of that afternoon, before Lhaklar decided to be "smart" in asking their uncle if he wanted to "chaperone" them. Efagti, while making a return to how he was earlier in his visit, and reluctant to come due to the movie's content, said yes before their mother came in from work. Eshal was a last-minute addition to seeing the film—he thought she was only here to ensure that he and Lhaklar stayed put and safe over the twisters that couldn't make up their minds on whether to touchdown or not. Their father had already said yes to their going to the theater after hearing of how they wanted to see the film; he seemed shocked over Eshal's "protectiveness" of them, and of Lhaklar asking their uncle if he wanted to come with them. Before leaving to go to the venue, they asked Bile, Guyunis, and Hazaar if they wanted to see the movie.

While Hazaar had an interest in seeing it, he was grounded for a week and, thus, couldn't. Bile said that he was planning on seeing it in the coming days; he didn't want to expedite his seeing of the film for reasons only known to him. Guyunis was too enthused with his birthday-received game system, and the two games that Hazaar got for him three weeks ago, to consider seeing the movie or even answer a simple question.

When they reached the theater, they found that the film was being postponed for technical reasons. Instead of going home to wait the proposed two hours out, they saw another film—someone dragged out the 2017 American musical romantic fantasy film, Beauty and the Beast by Bill Condon, out from archives and then decided to show it in certain theaters fairly recently; Eshal, after seeing the poster for it, asked if they could see it. For the next two hours and nine minutes, they watched how Emma Watson swooned the Beast into liking her. When the film was done, the room that It: Part 1—The Losers Club was being shown in had a sign before it that said it was to be shown in twenty minutes—he and Lhaklar busted their buns to get their tickets, then beverages and snacks, then raced to the room; they only just beat the credits. Efagti and Eshal had already gone in and found themselves a seat. According to them, no one asked for a ticket or even stopped them from going in after the doors were opened and the room started being filled—this told him and his brother that they wasted money on getting their tickets; Lhaklar wasn't happy over this for a few minutes before calming down then sitting back to enjoy the show.

"Dropping like flies... Once school let out, the disappearances increased and—" the glass-wearing boy on the screen said before being interrupted.

"They're going to continue." the tall, red-haired boy said. "Until he's found and then killed, they'll continue."

"No!" the skinny boy said. When he jumped from his chair, he started shivering. "No, absolutely not. Just leave it be and everything'll return to normal again."

"Since when has anything been normal, Stanley?" the girl named Beverly asked. "Big Bill's right. Until he's found and then killed, the kids of Derry aren't safe."

"What do you propose to do? Run up to everyone who looks odd or out of place then ask if they're the one behind the killings then pull out a pistol or slingshot?" the one identified as Stanley demanded. "If it's a monster, like Big Bill claims it is, then an adult should handle it. Not us kids."

"The adults aren't doing anything. They're just going by business as usual." the fat kid said.

"No they're not..." Stanley started blubbering, which caused most of the kids to look uncertain of the situation.

"They are, Stan. I don't see anyone doing anything to keep the kids inside, or safe, when its daytime or even at night. The curfew's up, but no one who's an adult is keeping up with it." the bespeckled boy said.

"You can see that in Officer Bowers. Yesterday, he was seen as driving past a group of fourteen year olds—it was well past curfew." Beverly said.

"Can you expect anything better from him? He can drive by the monster and not do anything to—" Stanley started to say.

"With his old, greased-up face, beady, red eyes, and fat, booger-dripping nose, no." the bespeckled boy said.

"Beep beep, Richie." the fat boy said.

"Beep yourself, Haystack." the one identified as Richie said.

The film began about forty-five minutes ago. They watched how the monster, who routinely called himself Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and liked using the guise of a clown to lure his young victims in, claimed young George Denbrough; how Henry Bowers, the bully of Derry, and son of Butch Bowers, beat up Ben Hanscom then chased him to the Barrens; how Bill Denbrough, the older brother of George, raced to the pharmacy for Eddie Kaspbrak's asthma medication following a disastrous encounter with Henry; and learned of how some of the town's children were missing and that some of the adults thought there were two killers out there—one targeting the girls and the other the boys. In all, the film lasted for nearly three hours. Bill Denbrough, Beverly Marsh, Ben Hanscom, Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak, and Stanley Uris recruited another into their group then grouped together to vanquish the evil that preyed on their town before succumbing to the effects of losing the memories that they shared of that summer; Mike Hanlon, at the movie's conclusion, was shown as both a young boy and sole remnant of his friends to remain in Derry and then as a grown man who was waiting by a phone. In all, there were eight deaths in the film—George Denbrough, who's arm was pulled off after it was reached into the storm drain; Eddie Corcoran, who was caught in the sewer after following the form that he thought was his younger brother, Dorsey; Patrick Hockstetter, the psychopath who kept a refrigerator full of animals that he killed, and former associate of Henry Bowers's; Victor Criss, a friend of Henry's who met his death after following Henry into the sewers; Belch Huggins, another of friend of Henry's who met his death in the same place as Victor; an unidentified boy who was killed by the canal by the monster that he perceived as Bigfoot; another unidentified boy who was grabbed by his possessed toilet then drowned; and a girl named Marcia, who was killed following her discovery of just getting her first period while out at night waiting for her boyfriend. Each death was as gruesome as could be, so he wasn't surprised over everyone yelling, screaming, or acting out their fear over seeing them. From what he could tell, Eshal was phenomenally spooked by the film; so were he and Lhaklar, for that matter.

As was natural, when the lights turned on, and everyone began to leave, it was his brother who gave the cue for them to stand from their seats. Once he felt the tap on his shoulder, then jumped for the ceiling, he turned to look at him then nodded his head. Lhaklar led the way from their seats, then up the aisle, then from the room; after leaving the room, they found themselves as having to go by their uncle's lead. Efagti took them from the hallway that the room was on then out of the building slowly. When they left the building, they saw it was night out—if not for his being a teenager, and way past the time where he thought the monsters came out to get the ones who stayed out after the sun went down, he would of been scared. Instead of being scared, he was energetic and very for their talking of what they saw.

"Bet you'll be wetting the bed tonight." Lazeer said to Lhaklar.

"Who? Me? No, but I'm banking on you doing it." Lhaklar said.

"Betting that the both of you will be wetting the bed tonight." Eshal said.

"No, I didn't see anything in the first film that we saw to grow excited over." Lhaklar said. Lazeer chuckled, while Efagti gave Lhaklar's elbow a flick.

"What was your favorite part?" Lazeer asked his brother.

"When that worm mutated, then started eating Marcia." Lhaklar replied.

"Fitting end for one who gets her first rag." Efagti flicked him on the elbow, while Eshal gasped and Lhaklar nodded his head.

"What about you?" Lhaklar asked him.

"When It attacked the Losers when they were in that scary as hell house." Lazeer replied. "The bit on it trying to scare them before they reached the bathroom is a close second."

"Bile, Guyunis, and Hazaar don't know what they missed..." Lhaklar started to say.

"Bile will see it soon. Willing to bet that Guyunis and Hazaar will too."

"Attack of the Tumbleweeds is released tomorrow. We can get it, then terrorize the family with it." Lhaklar said.

"That sounds like fun." Lazeer had a time in not chuckling.

"No more scary movies for me, please. I'll just stick to the romances, and fantasy films." Eshal said.

"Think she just warned us on who it'll be that'll be wetting the bed." Lhaklar joked.

"Ew! Keep all sheets that were girlie peed on far from my clothes." Lazeer joined the joke.

They walked for a while more before stopping then teleporting home. Once before the house, they went to it then went inside. When they were inside, and the house was all closed up, they returned to talking on what they saw.

"Hey, Lhaklar, willing to bet that Eshal got all giddy when she saw the scene of Peter Gordon making out with that girl." Lazeer said.

"Man, they did more than that. Didn't you notice what he was doing with his hands, and how that girl was moaning and begging for me?" Lhaklar asked.

"Yeah."

"I was disgusted by that scene, and I bet daddy will too once its spoken of at dinner." Eshal sniffed, then walked off to where the kitchen was.

She was more than glad to be home. While the first movie was good, and she enjoyed it, she hadn't much liked the second one. She was surprised over how her brothers enjoyed it, and over her uncle letting them watch it from start to finish. It: Part 1—The Losers Club was definitely not a film that she had expected to see—it was scary, and had parts that she was sure her father would agree on her brothers not seeing. While she mainly wanted to go to the theater to keep her brothers safe, just in case them spouts decided to come down then go towards them, she also wanted to ensure that they got along with their uncle and didn't give him a headache over certain things that he didn't need to be getting a headache on. Like her father, she was concerned for her uncle but, unlike her father, who knew what was going on with him, she didn't know why he was acting in the way that he was towards her brothers. So far, for the last few days, he seemed to be returned to being the uncle that she knew he was but, to be on the safe side, she was keeping an eye on him—the last she wanted was for her brothers to have a "repeat" of what happened between them and their father, then them and her.

While the event of wanting to see a movie in a theater was normal, the conversation on what was seen wasn't. She didn't much like how open her brothers were in speaking on their wetting the bed, or on her doing so after getting excited over something that didn't interest her. She wasn't excited or even interested in seeing It; when they saw the sign saying that it was postponed for technical reasons, she thought they'd be going home then forgetting about it. They were to move soon, and the weather wasn't all that ideal for her brothers to be moving about so freely, so she figured they'd probably never see it. Her figuring proved wrong, as did the one on her never watching a film in the building that they visited. Once her eye lit on the poster for Beauty and the Beast, which was very colorful, and showed some of the characters in a romantic setting of purple and yellow, she had to see the film that it was showcasing. She was happy to see Beauty and the Beast, which she thought was a film that was more targeted towards child and female audiences, and was glad to of been given the chance to see it; in her honest opinion, the film that her brothers wanted to see was more focused on audiences who were either teenage or adult males or liked being scared—while her brothers were male, and had been noticed as having an interest in horror films, she had figured that they wouldn't want to see something that was considered a blood-bath. She had learned a lot about her brothers in the last six months... some that she had grown use to, while others she still didn't agree with or like, and she had a feeling that there was still more to her brothers that she had yet to learn. With the move coming up, and her mother, and brothers, taking their place on Moas again, she would get her chance to get to know them fully. The same went on their getting to know her and their father in the full sense.

After saying hello to her mother, who was working the stove, and getting the final touches on dinner done, she scooped up the cat that was sitting by the basement door. Once the cat was in her arms, she opened the door then went down the steps. When she was in the basement, she went to the tunnel that was beside the washing machine then went down it. After reaching the part that opened in on the room that her brothers made, she stopped then watched in a stupid sort of fascination what she just came upon.

"Probably been playing it since we left." Eshal thought while watching what she was.

Unbeknown to the girlie, he hadn't just played his game system for the four and a half hours that she, their two bruders, and the man who seemed to be nothing more than a plain annoyance were out of the house. While he was playing the system when they left, he didn't continue to do so; he stopped long enough to get a snack, then talk to his mutter after hearing that she was home, then say hello to Bile, before going down to resume the play of the game that he was trying to get the hang of. After thirty minutes of resumed play, he stopped to go back up for a short "breather". He played with Sabine, then spoke with his mutter's husband, then watched a tv show before going down to play the game again. Hazaar had really looked out for him on the two games that he got for him; he more than ever thanked him for what he did, and loathed the idea of his being grounded because of his theft of the cash that he used to get them with.

The Virtual Reality Game Helmet was a hell of a surprise to him when he received it on his birthday. If not for his guitar, it would of been the "highlight" of what he got on that day. He had seen the game systems that preceeded it when he was a ward of the Meyers but he hadn't had a chance to check them out or even play one of the games that went with them. He was glad to do so now, and to have the games that he had for his system. Dune was based on the film that went out in 4092; the player mainly assumed military attire and did his best to stay alive against the desert's various beasts. While he liked Dune, he had found it to be a bit too easy to play—since getting his system, he had won it over five times. Back To Dinosaur Island was a decent game; he had played it twice now, and had found it to be right interesting. He mostly just walked around, with his service-issue rifle cocked and ready to fire at the meat-eating dinosaurs that he found himself as facing. With his character being stranded on a dinosaur island, and needing to find four people who were also stranded, he needed to keep himself alive and find them before they succumbed to either the elements or the animals that called the island home. Star Wars: Trails of Tatooine was his favorite of the three games that he owned. He assumed the identity of a Jedi and was doing his best to stay alive on the desert planet while also checking it over for folk who meant to bring the Republic back from the dead—while Hazaar got him the game, he didn't get him the controller with which he could play it with; it took him two days before he could muster the courage to ask Lhaklar for a loan so he could get himself the lightsaber-shaped controller.

The controller cost him €45, which meant that he was going to be lacking most of his allowance next month if he didn't go out soon to check the nearby dumps then find something to sell. Even though Lhaklar was his bruder, and he loved him, he knew that he wasn't going to let the loan slip his mind. He needed to pay it off, so he could remain in his bruder's good "faith" and show a little bit of maturity. So far, Lhaklar hadn't asked for him to pay him back yet but he was sure that it'd come up soon; he best get on the stick in getting some dough just to keep him from turning on him, and keep that man from targeting him again.

"That was close!" the voice of Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the classic first three films, had a cameo in the seventh, and was a minor character in the eighth and ninth film, said after he narrowly missed getting hit by gunfire.

The lightsaber controller was poised for just a second before dipping low then being swung. He repelled gunfire, then debris that suddenly flew at him, before charging towards the end of the roof. With a jump, he sailed across space to the next building then started landing left's and right's to the ones who he came upon who meant him harm. While punching the ones who were in the game, and who he thought he saw, he was reminded of why he was in the "Son Cave"—instead of playing his game in the living room, or his bedroom, where something could be damaged, or someone could be hurt by his acting out his play, he was in the relatively safe room that he and his bruders built, where nothing could be broken or hurt. While he liked his game system, and its games, he didn't want to break a window, or a piece of furniture, or send someone to the hospital.

Before returning to the Son Cave, he closed the door that went to the basement. With Sabine following him around, and wanting to come down here, he didn't want to run the risk of her being accidentally kicked, stepped on, or hit. His cat, while getting adequate attention from him, and his mutter's husband and his daughter, was getting a bit too clingy as of late; it seemed that he couldn't go anywhere in the house anymore without having her following him. He suspected that it was the man who was his mutter's bruder-in-law who was cause of this—with his stepping on her tail last week, and getting a bit frustrated over finding her in his room almost every day, he had spooked her into not being as confident as she use to be.

Efagti, who his bruders were either openly calling their uncle or being forced to out of respect, was no uncle of his. While he gave him some respect, he didn't give him all of what he deserved nor even trusted him as much as he could see out the window on a foggy day. While the man had stopped trying to give him them embarrassing talks, and stopped getting on him for his oops-moment in saying that word, he was still causing trouble for him. Even though he hadn't done anything these last few days, he was on his toes for when he did—like the man who was his mutter's husband, he wasn't to start getting use to him, or trusting him, until he shaped up and started showing the members of his family the respect that they needed. He went through his mutter's husband's shenanigens in April, and then his sister's in June and July; with Efagti now being in the picture, and being such a jerk after he started growing a bit calm around him, he was wondering if everyone in his mutter's husband's family wasn't whacked in the head.

"You need training on the Force, Apprentice." Mark Hamill's voice said when he came deathly close to being killed. The stormtrooper came out of nowhere, and he had no chance to prepare for him before he struck him with his dagger—there was no way to tell Mr. Hamill this, since he was dead and the voice was programed into the game.

He slugged many aliens who were on the Republic's side, then the stormtroopers that decided to come in after he found himself as having to do battle on the ground, then progressed to the next part, which took place in Maz Kanata's tavern. It was very quiet for around two minutes; he walked around in this virtual bar, and consumed two drinks that he just snagged from the counter, and were for someone else who wasn't watching his surroundings, or the people in them, before going to work with his lightsaber. This part of the game required a specific gun controller to be used; since he didn't have that, he used his saber as best he could. Before getting far in this new battle, he was given a chore—protect Maz as she tried to remove the things that were in her tavern's basement. While repelling gunfire, and the objects that were hurled at him, he followed the oddly orange woman, who was said to be a thousand years old, and Chewie's "girlfriend", as she hauled boxes and bags of stuff from the basement to a ship that, for some strange reason, wasn't being fired at. He received many wounds, and the beam that showed his life essence came to be drained twice before being restored, before the chore was done and Maz flew off with her precious cargo. The rest of the segment in battling in the tavern was done quickly before he reached the part that he was experiencing the most trouble on. In this part, he had to relinquish his saber for favor of his fists—for some reason, General Grievous was in the game; he had to battle him by normal means to move on to the next level. With the General having four arms, this was a tricky task. And one that he, once again, found trouble in doing.

The lower arms swung before the top ones did. He ducked to avoid the lower swings, then pulled back to miss the ones that were directed towards his head and chest. The General laughed, then did his dry cough, then came at him; the scene around him became red as he was struck, then driven back by blows. He took four before swinging at his opponent's chest—the General was a robot, yes, but he had organs under his plates that were vulnerable. Like Obi-wan Kenobi, he tried to ply the panels before the heart to vanquish his enemy. General Grievous made a grunting sound, then shoved him back; the mechanical foot of the robot man sent him reeling for two feet after it collided with him two seconds later. If he had the use of his saber, he would of beat the man in nothing flat; seeing as this was a personal battle, he had to rely on his strength and smarts to get out of it alive. He took three punches to the head, then one to the stomach and chest, before getting one in that seemed to disorient his opponent. As the General knelt before him, coughing, and trying to regain his senses, he rushed in then started pummeling him. His hand had just wrapped around the man's chest armor when he was hurled towards the ceiling. Before he could do anything, his ankle was grabbed then he was thrown to the side.

"Silly human Jedi. There's no way you c—" the General started to say.

"Hey!" for some reason, a feminine voice came in over his opponent's. He ignored it as he paid attention to where his foe was going, and what he was planning on doing.

"—an beat me." the General finished. He no more tried to trick the man into thinking that he was going to the left when he meant to go right when he came towards him.

It felt like he was assaulted by a dump truck. When the man collided with him, then picked him up, then started to crush him, he thought he felt the sensation of his bones screaming, and then breaking. He allowed for this attack to happen for two seconds before swinging his leg up then drawing clear of his opponent. He ran around the man twice, then swung at his face once, then found himself tasting dirt; the man hovered over him, laughing in his strange way, and uttering two of his trademark coughs, before reaching down for his throat. If he had pupils, they would of contracted. Once the man's metallic, claw-like hand was on him, he "felt" pain. The scene became red; he saw stars while trying to pry the cold fingers from the part of his body that was, earlier that year, grabbed by the man who fadered him; his imagination ran wild as he coughed, and then sputtered; then he found the strength to do as he had previously not been able to do in kicking his foot up then making his opponent release him. Once he was released, the scene became clear. He thought he detected the taste of blood in his throat as his character stood, then took two bounding steps towards the General. Thoughts of his actually winning the part that seemed to be getting the best of him happened when he grabbed the brick then slugged it into his opponent's head. The General, after being driven back to the wall, swung at him twice before dropping to his knee; he laughed evilly while grabbing the board nearest him, then holding it with preparation to use. The General's odd eyes, which looked organic, and were surrounded by tissue, grew in size as he rose the board then brought it down on h—

"Guyunis!"

Whatever it was that her brother was playing, he must be having fun with it or close to losing some battle that she couldn't see. Guyunis was both running around in circles, cursing and throwing punches, and kicks, at the air, and grabbing at himself as if he was hurt; while two of them things were amusing to watch, the third wasn't. Seeing as she best stop him from doing as he was, then see if he was truly okay or not, she called out to him. When he didn't respond, or stop throwing his fist at the pillow that he was holding, she ran forward. She collided with him right when he started to stand from his bowed stance—if she had known of his just besting the one that his helmet was projecting to him, and that he was only acting out his battle with him, she would of grown purple in the cheeks.

When she reached him, then wrapped her arms around him, he stood up tall then became very still. There was a short thirty-second period where he did nothing before reaching his hand up to his head. He fiddled with the helmet that he wore, then pressed two of the buttons that were on it, then lifted it; his glowing yellow eyes blinked twice, then took her in for just a second, before the sigh was emitted and his arm flexed.

"You okay?" Eshal asked after being driven back by twelve inches.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Guyunis counter-asked.

"You're going around like you're hurt..."

"Feel fine. Nothin-k-g wrong with me."

"Just playing to the moment in your game?"

"Yes."

He was annoyed. Here he was, getting ready to show how elated he was in beating Grievous, and progress to the next part of the game, when he was stopped from playing. When the body was thrown at him, he thought it was his mutter. She came down, wanting to get his attention about supper being ready or something, and, when she saw that he was unresponsive to her, threw herself at him—this seemed very right to him until he realized she wouldn't do this. His mutter wouldn't throw herself at him to get his attention. She'd call out, and quite loudly too, before coming forward to either turn the system that he wore off or give his arm a tap. Seeing as it couldn't be his mutter who was stopping his playtime with his game, he decided to save the progress that he did then take the helmet off.

As he had assumed, it wasn't his mutter who ran into him. It was Eshal. The "oldest" of his siblings, who he was still slightly nervous of and didn't fully trust. After seeing her, then pushing her back from him, he began the ritual of returning the room to how it was before he came down to play his system. The table, which was propped against the wall, was dropped to its four legs then picked up; he placed it back to where it was then went to put the items that he grabbed and either threw or used during his fight with Grievous. Once this was all done, he sat on the couch; while he was shocked over seeing that Sabine was in the room, he didn't shoo her from him when she came over for a cuddle. After picking her up, then cradling her close to his chest, he placed his helmet on the table then sat back. Eshal came over then sat beside him a few seconds later.

"How long-k have you been in here?" Guyunis asked his cat.

"Couple of minutes." Eshal, who automatically thought he was talking to her, said.

"Ever hear of giving-k one some privacy?" Guyunis asked Eshal.

"Yes. I didn't know anyone was down here when I came down."

"Likely story."

"G—"

"Guyunis—you've no-k-t won the priviledge of calling-k me tha-k-t."

"No need for you to be rude, Guyunis."

"How long have you been back?"

"Just came in." Eshal replied. Seeing as she best mention it, she decided to speak of the movie that was seen. "Saw two movies while we were out—Beauty and the Beast, and the one that Lhaklar and Lazeer wanted to see. The first was good, while the second wasn't."

"Something wrong with i-k-t?" Guyunis asked.

"Scary, gory, and—"

"Sounds righ-k-t up my alley."

"Enough to give you nightmares too."

"I'll see it in the next few days." Guyunis promised. "Go-k-t several tha-k-t I want to see, but that one is really up there on my lis-k-t."

"What're the others that you want to see?" Eshal asked.

Due to the content that was in two of the movies that he wanted to see, he kept his mouth shut on what he was planning to do in the coming days. Since the tornadoes weren't having ground contact, and it was sunny when they were seen, it was obvious that everything was fine and that he and his bruders could go outside. If things went according to plan, he'd be joining Giovanni in one of the theaters that showed both soft and hard porn on the twenty-ninth; on the thirtieth, he was to see the new It movie while, on the following day, he was to see the Halloween line-up that was to be shown in the FORUM Rastatt movie theater. While Bile knew of his intent to see the porn movies, he wasn't to join him, and Giovanni, in seeing them—he had something better to do on that day, and claimed to not like seeing them types of cinema smut. Even though he just receive a confirmation on how good the new It remake was, he knew it was going to be good, and that the money for the ticket was worth it.

Since he needed to give his vision a rest for a few hours, he decided to put his game system away. He placed Sabine on the couch's arm, then grabbed his helmet; while keeping an eye on the girlie, he slid the game from its slot then returned it to its box. Following the closing of the box, he retrieved his cat then stood up. He excused himself right when his mutter called for everyone to come to supper.

"Double good reason to give the game a rest." he thought after the word on supper being done was given.

"You speak with Giovanni on our moving yet?" Eshal asked a few seconds later, after following him from the room then down the tunnel that it was on.

"No, and no-k-t planning to either." Guyunis replied.

"You need to. For both your and his sake."

"For your dat's sake, you mean." Guyunis said.

"Careful, Brother. Daddy may be nice on some things but he's not on others." Eshal warned. When Guyunis stopped, then turned to look at her, she shrugged her shoulders then came up beside him. "He doesn't like disrespect, and you just implied yourself in not giving him any."

"Tell me why I should stop being-k Giovanni's friend, or tell him we're moving soon. There are ways for me and my bruders to keep being-k friends with who we hang-k ou-k-t with, you know." Guyunis said while continuing down the tunnel.

"Daddy wants the move to be smooth, and for you and our brothers to settle in right. Going from Moas to Earth isn't ideal for that to happen."

"I'm sure we can work out something on our getting set-k-tled and keeping our friends." Guyunis said while moving past his sister then going towards the stairs that went up to the kitchen. After entering the kitchen, he went straight for the stairs that'd take him to his room; the one who was his sister stopped only long enough to shake her head at what he said before going to where the dining room table was.


	36. Chapter 36

From the Berlin _Berliner Zeitung_ , October 28, 4101 (Page 1)

Tornado Ravages France, Germany, and Nearly Master Vile

With it having a base of nearly five miles, two hundred mile per hour winds, and a damage path of seventy miles, its no surprise that it's being called the Colossus of all Tornadoes. While we heard from the researchers, weather experts, and storm chasers to be on the look-out for something like this, we weren't expecting for it to happen nor for the damage or heartbreak that it caused. From the sixteenth to the nineteenth, people were on edge after the sky grew dark and ominous, then as the funnels were seen as trying to form; they did the same between the twentieth and twenty-fourth, where it was sunny but the funnels were still being seen. Most everyone shook their shoulders, then went by their usual when the weather cleared up on the twenty-fifth. Groceries were bought, kids were taken and then brought home from school, after-school activities were done, and certain businesses that closed up in the event that bad weather may happen opened up to resume business. According to some, the twenty-fifth was the day of calm before the storm that produced the tornado struck parts of north-east France and lower Germany; when the rope was seen near Beinheim, all eyes turned to it and mouths dropped in shock.

"The system that produced it was small, and shouldn't of produced what it did." Roderik Eilerts, the weather forecaster for the EMWS News, said after being questioned on what happened. "When correspondence was done with our sister networks in and around Beinheim, it was learned that it was just raining. The wind was normal for such a system, so no flags were thrown on it producing a tornado or anything of significance to warn anyone about."

The rope was seen at 11:23:09 A.M. GMT. While most stopped to photograph it, others tuned into the radio and news stations to keep up with it. With it being south of Beinheim, in the forgotten community of Bois de Beinheim, no one expected for it to do much harm to anyone. Or to become the size that it achieved in a short, five minute period. Initially, only the ones in Beinheim were spectators to it then, when it grew to having a base of over a mile wide, people across the Rhine took notice then started making efforts to avoid it.

The remnants of Bois de Beinheim were completely destroyed, trees were severely damaged, grass was eroded from its soil, and animals either ran in fright or were hurled from where they were plucked from. Within three minutes of being seen, the twister crossed the D87 motorway; it ripped the asphalt from where it was, then mangled the guardrails before moving on to doing as it did with Bois de Beinheim to the forest that sat before it. Once done with scouring the forest that it set its sights on, it crossed the Rhine then made a line for Bietigheim.

The fury of the storm was felt after it crossed the Rhine, and everyone both in and out of its path was treated to it. With the storm being as wide as it was, none are surprised to hear that the shields over Ottersdorf, Steinmauern, and Bietigheim were damaged. Like with what happened on the French side of the Rhine, roads were destroyed, trees were completely shredded and debarked, grass was eroded from its soil, and animals either fled in terror or were flung like rag dolls; while the damage in Ottersdorf was massive, it was severe in Steinmauern and minor in Bietigheim.

"It destroyed the west-side of Ottersdorf, where most of the business district is. Everything, from bank to retail store, is gone. It almost looks like a wasteland now." Heinz Uhse, a resident of the village of Ottersdorf, said about an hour after storm passed. "My family and I were talking about it when we saw it crossing the Rhine then, five minutes later, we were rushing for our basement—while our home was damaged, we were safe."

While Heinz Uhse and his family were safe, the same can't be said for some of the others who called Ottersdorf home. The village of Ottersdorf, which is in the district of the city of Rastatt, was home to around five hundred people; following the storm, only a hundred could be accounted for. Efforts are still underway to find survivors, and to clean what the storm left behind. It's estimated that seventy-five percent of the structures in the village are destroyed; the rest sustained damage that can be repaired in a few weeks to a month's time.

In Steinmauern, the farming community was hit, as was some of the market and business square. Around €10,000 was lost after the town's bank was hit, and around €3,000,000 in damages was done to business and housing buildings. Of the two hundred civilians who were said to be living in the town, only a hundred and seventy-five have been accounted for—efforts are being made to find survivors. The tornado continued on a north-easterly course until, finally, hitting the village of Bietigheim; by the time it hit Bietigheim, it was losing size and strength. Many accredit this to why the village didn't sustain but so much damage.

"An effort was underway to get the roads clear of the vehicles that were on them. I think that's where most of the casualties took place—people who were on their lunch breaks, or on their way to one of the neighboring communities, trying to get out of the storm's path, and not being able to." Frank Reuter, the Mayor of Steinmauern, said when questioned on the damage and casualties done in his town. "With no warning being made, and no one knowing it was coming this way, everyone went by their own as if everything was normal. Like with the school in Ottersdorf, the one in Steinmauern was damaged—no children were harmed thanks to the efforts by teachers. Our hearts go out to the families of the effected; we wish for a swift recovery from this storm."

At 12:01:20 P.M., the monster ceased its assault on our country then receeded to where it came from. While we mourn for the ones who didn't survive the storm, and get dirty in cleaning up what it left behind, researchers are busy in looking over the data that was collected on it. Thanks to witness testimony, image photography, and video, we know its size, strength, and that many are thinking about putting it in a category that no other tornado's been put in. With the width and strength being known, many are wondering how it came to be made, and how it sustained its power for so long. Even though the path stayed on a north-easterly route, it did have a kink in it, which went right to Ottersdorf. While no casualties occurred in France, more than a hundred have been counted in Germany.

While the shock over the storm's fury is great, the shock over who nearly became a victim of it is greater. When the storm left Steinmauern, the man who claims our planet as his was near the shield. Even though the tornado was nearly obscured by the soil that it was picking up, it could be seen, so many are wondering if Master Vile thought he was safe from it. Along with the ones who were standing before the shield that stands before Steinmauern and Bietigheim, Master Vile was thrown some feet before coming to a rest near some trees then being buried in debris. According to the ones who witnessed this happen, both he and the ones who were thrown got up from where they were. It's unknown if they were injured or not.

"The man's been seen as patrolling the shields on our side of the planet for a while now, so its no surprise that he encountered it." the Mayor of Bietigheim, Bernd Kessing, said when asked about Master Vile being effected by the storm. "He got up afterwards, so he was fine, as were them other men. While my town wasn't hit that bad, we offer our support to the ones that were and are helping the ones effected as much as we can."

Assistance from all over Germany, and from parts of France and Switzerland, is pouring into the communities that were struck by the tornado. While Germany's experienced its fair share of tornadoes this year, the one that was seen on the twenty-sixth will be the most remembered. The sheer size alone atones to its power, while the damage done by it shows how angry it was. While the full cost in damages isn't known, it's estimated as being ten million; an estimate of five hundred have lost their lives, and a thousand have been injured.

"The "estimate" over-exceeded itself last night, when they found all them cars in them ditches." Ajeet said while putting the newspaper that he just read to the side.

Like so many others, he took time out of his schedule to grab a pair of scissors then clip the article that he just read out from the page that it was on. Once the article was free from its page, he tossed the rest of the paper in the trash then returned to looking at the forms that were before him. While reading these forms over, he was reminded of the events that happened when that tornado was seen.

Just before it reached the middle-marker of its course across the Rhine, efforts were made to clear the roads that seemed to be the most threatened by it. The tornado's speed increased once it made it across the river, so many of the ones who were redirecting traffic were forced to get out of dodge and fast; while most of the roads that's traffic were redirected were safe, others weren't. Almost every vehicle on the roads that were victim to the storm were picked up and then hurled—all of the people in them were pronounced deceased when their vehicles were found in the ditch that looked more like a ravine yesterday. After assaulting the unnamed roads that lay before Ottersdorf, it stopped then became stationary for around ten seconds before making the curve then going towards the village.

The hairs on the back of his neck pricked when he saw that. Before stopping, it was on a consistent course, which would of taken it right through Steinmauern. Even now, he thought it had eyes for the village of Ottersdorf, and all who either lived in it or were traveling near it. His stomach churned when the thing ran into the outside edges of the village, then grew cold as it started chewing everything in sight. Even though two days had passed since the storm happened, the village still looked like something a bomb had hit; just recently, it was learned that the whole place would have to be bulldozed and then rebuilt from scratch.

Up to his wife's call, he didn't know it was storming in Beinheim, or that a tornado was on the ground. According to Gretel, he best get near a tv and fast; he did wish that he hadn't done that. What he saw was horrible, and it was going to haunt him for a while. That tornado had eyes, and a good stomach, on it and they were very focused on the parts that it went through. Once he saw what was on the screen of the tv that he went to look at, he started jumping and worrying about the ones who lived in the part of the country that it was in. As natural, no call to the president was made—knowing him, he knew about it and had the phone glued to his ear all while it was happening. President Leinart was probably already hard at work in getting the help that the storm-ravaged people in their country's southern sector needed when it was happening.

"Boom... It had a sudden, and very unexplained, acceleration to it when it was within a mile of Ottersdorf then, when it started going through Ottersdorf, it returned to its former speed." Ajeet thought.

In all, it took fifteen agonizing minutes for it to get its fill of the village before moving on to Steinmauern, and then Bietigheim. Since he couldn't do anything to help anyone, he stood then watched as the helicopters did their aerial footage, the ground-based reporters and storm chasers sent their reports, and the civilian-based photographs were shown—the Colossus was expected to be spoken of for a long time, and it was also expected to alight the pages and covers of newspapers and magazines for weeks.

The news, just before he and his family went to bed last night, showed a civilian-based photograph that depicted the two overpasses that were on the outskirts of Steinmauern. This picture, which was taken before the storm struck them two overpasses, showed that there were around fifty cars under them. That tornado barreled into them like an Elephant, and made mince meat out of them in nothing flat; none of the poor souls who were trying to use them as a means of protection had a chance. All of them cars were picked up and then mangled in more ways than one before being spat out. All who were in them were dead—he did hope that their passing was quick; he could imagine the untold horrors that they faced while experiencing what they did.

The farming community of Steinmauern was given a direct hit after the overpasses were destroyed, but no one was killed. With the tornado having picked up all that dirt from the farmlands, it became hard to see, which caused a lot of casualties to occur in the south-eastern section of the town's business square—people _knew_ it was happening, but they couldn't see it to avoid it.

Like the newspaper said, the bank in Steinmauern was hit but, instead of having €10,000 in it, it had somewhere over €20,000 in it. Most of that was missing. While some were coming forward to return what they found—it was either stuck to a tree, or found in a bush or flowerbed, or lying on the lawn, or hanging on the roof, or seen in the air—others were keeping what they came across. The people who ran the bank weren't concerned for the money that was lost. They were concentrating on finding the injured and making what repairs they could of the buildings that weren't that badly struck. Following its assault of Steinmauern, the tornado set its sights on Bietigheim. He held his breath all while it went on its course then, when it was seen as dropping in size and strength, threw up a cheer. The outside edge of the tip of Bietigheim sustained minimal damage, like the newspaper said it did, and no lives were claimed. Once the tornado dissipated, he dropped to the chair given to him then buried his head—it wasn't until thirty minutes later when the reports started coming in on what all was damaged, and what happened with Master Vile and them seven men who were hurled from where they were.

"Heh, they _had_ to of seen it. No tears being shed over their stupidity." Ajeet thought when the idea of the tornado having an "effect" on Master Vile and the men that were by the Steinmauern and Bietigheim shields came to him.

Normally, when a tornado picks up dirt and debris, it grows darker. With this one, that didn't happen. When it sucked up all that dirt from the Steinmauern farmlands, it grew to being quite faint. It was only by way of seeing the other debris that it had in it that it was able to be seen. Master Vile, and them seven men who were "stationed" near the Steinmauern and Beitigheim shields, were watching the thing as it ravaged what it did; right when he was seen as throwing out a mighty cheer after seeing four cracks appear in the Steinmauern shield, Master Vile was thrown back. It was much like a broom was taken to him; one minute, he was standing just as sturdily as could be and, the next, he was flying through air. He had just been buried under debris after colliding with a tree when the Steinmauern shield cracks repaired themselves, thus making any of his thoughts on the shield dropping, and his getting in to reek havoc on Protected German Soil, not happen.

While everyone was running, and trying to find some safe place to wait out the storm, or get out of its path, Master Vile was acting like he was excited. The man probably enjoyed seeing what he did; knowing him, the destruction, and loss of lives, probably made him feel happy inside. The men stationed near the shields looked to be keeping a good eye on the tornado too, but they also looked to be quite shocked and scared of what they were seeing—if he had to make any guesses, they couldn't move from where they were because of Master Vile being there. If he had been either one of them seven men, he would of said screw the man, I'm getting out of here.

"With the thing being as big as it was, it's no surprise that debris was found as far as Switzerland." Ajeet stopped what he was doing to rub his eyes.

People from all over south Germany, north-east France, and north Switzerland were finding debris in their yards, on the roads, and in stretches of unowned land that was routinely used for outdoor recreational activities. Some of what was found was being collected for research, while the rest was either thrown away or kept as a souvenir. Even though the storm was as big as it was, he and his hadn't found a single piece of debris in their yard or even in the neighborhood that they lived in—Haimi was hoping to find something, while the rest of the Ballal's weren't.

If the Colossus was the only occurrence in freak-oriented weather to strike the globe this year, everyone would of written it off as a one-time thing. That wasn't the case. Like with last year, the weather this year was crazy... or crazier, considering some of the stuff that was happening in Australia, India, Russia, and parts of the Americas. Just two weeks ago, a system engulfed the entirety of the eastern United States then dumped bucketloads of either rain or snow on people. A week ago, two hurricanes slammed into England, Ireland, and Scotland. A few days ago, it was extremely windy in China and Japan. Severe droughts were happening in India and Russia; torrential thunderstorms were happening in Africa; and unprecedented snowstorms were happening in Australia. It was no surprise to citizen or scientist that earthquakes were happening in the areas where substanial rainfall was falling, or that the aliens who moved into parts of Central and South America decided to move to some other location on the planet after an 8.2 earthquake happened in Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Uruguay.

"No, but both scientist and citizen received a shock when the sea rolled up to claim some of Texas, Alaska, south Africa, and Baja California." Ajeet said in a near-shaky voice.

A month and a half ago, all of them places found themselves as being swallowed up by water. Baja California, which use to be two separate states, but was made into a single state in 2075 by the Mexican government, was close to being separated from Mexico now; the bit of Alaska that stuck out in the ocean was now completely separated from the state, and nearly overrun with water; and the tip of south Africa no longer existed. Up to the discovery of Antarctica and Greenland being half-gone, everyone was baffled over this happening. Scientists were now saying that something worse than the unpredictable weather was happening—the climate, which returned to normal a hundred and twenty years ago, was changing and no one could do a thing to stop it.

While sliding the forms that he just signed to the side, he remembered the things that he learned from his history teachers. The planet had gone through hell multiple times in the past; he was honestly surprised that it was still here, or stable enough to sustain the life that it had on it. According to his teachers, Earth had gone through seven major climate shifts in the last two thousand years—the first in 2025, with the rest happening in 2708, 3023, 3045, 3080, 3899, and 3952. Each shift in climate happened in conjunction to one of plagues that struck the masses, and lasted for a number of years before evening out.

After 2025 came around, it took about eighty years for the weather to shape up. When the Avian Flu Plague had its fill of victims, it took around a hundred years for the climate to calm down. Even though it was warmer than usual in some places, the climate before 3023 came around was fine and everyone was happy and healthy; a steady decline in temperature occurred between 3023 and 3079 then, in 3080, it plummeted to an excess of nearly thirty degrees in some places. It took three hundred years before the temperatures returned to normal, and everyone was able to stop acting like their caveman ancestors. A minor change in climate occurred in 3899, after the last major plague was experienced by the ones who were on the planet, then it began to warm up after the Trypanosomiasis plague took effect in both Germany and three of its neighboring countries. While he agreed that it was past due for another climate shift to occur, he wished that it wouldn't happen now—he'd like for his children and grandchildren to grow up without seeing their peers being so stressed out by what was going on around them, or have to worry about being parentless after their parents succumbed to not being able to sustain both themselves and the young ones that they birthed.

"Get that foul Master Vile, and Miss. Irene's husband, daughter, and brother-in-law, off the planet and, maybe, things will settle down." Ajeet thought after making the call to his secretary. "We were doing very well before they came along. Once them four, and them other aliens, came here, everything went to shit. Bet that, if they were gone, and it was just Miss. Irene and her children here, everything would return to normal."

While Ajeet Mahatma Ballal, a man who he very vaguely knew, was giving his secretary what he signed, and thinking that the world's problems were squarely on the shoulders of all who weren't Miss. Irene, her children, or human, he was putting a better perspective on things. After reading the same article that Mr. Ballal cut from the paper, then hearing that a probable global climate shift was happening, he sat down then started writing the history that was known to exist between the time that Miss. Irene was noted as missing and 4099.

In mid-2000, some months after Miss. Irene and her two, older sons went missing, a robot-like race of people that called themselves the Machine Empire crept in. They were ousted on three different occasions by the teenagers who were the planet's original protectors; on the fourth time that they came in, there were no protectors to oust them. Surprisingly, it was Master Vile who sent them packing. Even though they were a nuisance, they didn't cause anything adverse to happen with the planet.

In 2015, a space pirate named Divatox came to the planet. While many say she was mostly after the ones who protected the planet, others say she was trying to claim the planet as hers. Even though the reason behind her coming here wasn't known, it was known on her causing the already stressed climate to become even more unstable—her odd, fish-like ship, which was piloted in the ocean, was said to emit some chemical on a near-six hour basis. Some accredit her to the three plagues that happened between 2016 and 2019 while others say it was the stress from the climate change that caused it.

A long stretch of years lapsed between Divatox's invasion and the next one. When the next evil-doer came in, she had a companion with her. The year was 2133 when Astronema and Dark Specter showed their ugly mugs, and came close to ripping the rug from under Master Vile's feet; while the Machine Empire had no involvement in causing the planet's climate to change, or any plagues to happen, and while Divatox was the one who caused the climate to begin its shift in 2016, and was suspected of being behind the 2016-2019 plagues, they were directly linked to the events that happened between 2134 and 2171. Almost immediately after they were sent packing, the planet started turning on the ones who lived on it—in June 2134, Hurricane Wilhem struck the entire east coast of the United States, and caused five trillion in damages and took fifty million lives; in November 2139, Mount Shasta, Mount St. Helens, and Krakatoa erupted at the same time, and caused nearly one hundred million to die after spewing poisonous gases and ash in the air; in April 2145, the state of Florida was struck by a 100 foot tall tsunami, which drowned it and all of its population; in December 2150, the eight islands that made up the state of Hawaii went up in smoke after the Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park erupted, and all who lived on them died; in March 2153, the cities of San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo were destroyed, and an estimated five hundred thousand to two million died, after a massive earthquake happened; and, from 2166 to 2171, an extreme form of Avian flu struck and claimed one to four billion lives. Earth and its people were allowed to recover from this; before the next invader came in, thirty-nine years of peace were experienced.

"The year was 2210 when Trakeena and Triskull, the former a woman who either mutated into a giant bug or used some substance to turn her into one, and the latter being a brother of Master Vile, invaded. While they created a lot of hell for one of the communities that lie outside of the shields, they didn't cause any climate shifts, natural disasters, or plagues to happen." Horace said while writing this down on the piece of paper before him.

Between 2210 and 2707, no plagues or climate changes happened. When Scorpius entered the planet in 2707, looking for trouble and his glory moment, there were signs of the climate being under stress—thanks to the vehicles that he and his army left behind, which gave off a nearly invisible smoke that counter-acted against the ozone, a one hundred year period of extreme warmth occurred. The insectile man, who looked like a spider but had tentacles instead of leg-like limbs, also left some alien substance on the ground, which the birds ate and then grew sick on. The Avian Flu Plague, that lasted from 2708 to 2712, was the result of that digested substance.

Normal things happened between 2713 and 2923 then, like that, a new enemy to the planet arrived. This one went by the name of Queen Bansheera; even though she did a lot of damage to the communities that lie outside of the shields, which were already overcrowded and in dire need of being grown out, she didn't cause any plagues or climate shifts to happen. Unlike Divatox, Astronema and Dark Specter, Triskull and Trakeena, and Scorpius, she met her end with Master Vile—the man, after showing up following her defeat by the teenagers who were looking after the planet, made toothpicks out of her in nothing flat.

The next on the scene was Ransik, who came to the planet in 3000. While some say he was a human who was bitten by some radioactive bug, others say he was purely alien and came from some planet called Veniplos—whatever the cause of his existence and location of origin, he was known to be the creator of the Green Plague, which started in 3003 and lasted until just before 3006. Like Queen Bansheera, he met his end via Master Vile, who about bisected him with one of his weirdly strong powers.

"A steady change in temperature happened between 3003 and 3080; other than Ransik, there were three others who tried their luck in taking the planet over. These three people are directly linked to the rapid acceleration of the climate changing."

Master Vile must of had it out for the first man because, when he showed up to see him off, he had a sword and body bag with him. The man who invaded the planet in 3023 was called Master Org; he caused the ice-like island of Greenland to swell to twice its size, Antarctica to nearly triple in size, and all of northern Canada to freeze over. None of this was changed after he was killed. Master Vile just bagged him then left; the man didn't shrug his shoulders or even turn to see the mess of what he created.

The Plague of Meats, as it was commonly called by some, happened in 3039. Even though sixteen years had passed after Master Org's invasion, he wasn't linked to it. The cause of the plague was traced to a restaurant called Chick-Fil-A—the food was tainted by some man-made chemical which caused the stomaches of many to explode after the one who harbored them battled a lengthy illness for two weeks. Six years after the plague was beat, a ninja-like being that called himself Lothor came in; thanks to his actions in toying with the already too-cold poles, the planet grew to being colder. Instead of being killed by the teenagers who took over from the last in protecting the planet, or meeting his end by Master Vile, he fled right after Master Vile appeared before him.

Some ice-like being was the one who broke the strand that kept the saddle to the camel's back. In 3079, Flurious came to the planet then worked his skills in freezing it over. The man did as Lothor did in fleeing after Master Vile showed up—like Lothor, he was just defeated by the ones who called themselves the planet's teenage protectors when Master Vile came in to see him off. Two months after Flurious ran off, the Chamydia Plague happened; this, and the sudden climate change, caused trouble for many who lived on the planet.

"And, in 3099, Flurious's brother, Moltor, invaded. While he caused a lot of damage to the settlements that lie outside of the shields, he didn't cause any climate shifts or plagues to happen."

Normal events, including the fourth World War, happened between 3100 and 3898. While they had their issues with several other alien invaders, they didn't experience any climate changes or plagues. Everything was quiet, peaceful, and doing well by their standards then, like a cruel slap to the face, Mesogog came in. If not for this dinosaur-looking man, the Plague of the Mosquitoes wouldn't of happened; the same went with the ensuing climate change, which occurred immediately after the super-mutated mosquito infestation was beaten and a cure to the plague was made. While the plague claimed many lives abroad, the following climate change claimed the lives of all who lived in England, Ireland, Iceland, and Australia—in total, two billion lost their lives.

The final two aliens who were in the history books came in a hundred and forty-nine and fifteen years ago. The first was the Troobians, who made their appearance in December of 3951, and caused the Trypanosomiasis plague, which was felt in Germany and three of its nine bordering countries. While the Troobians fled following their defeat by the next-to-last known teenagers who aided in protecting the planet, their commander didn't; Emperor Gruumm, who seemed to have the idea of taking the planet's resources for himself and his superior, a man by the name of Omni, had a rather spectacular, but short, battle with Master Vile before meeting his end. Master Vile looked to be toying with the man for a few minutes before upping the anti on him; despite receiving some injuries, and being knocked down four times, he got up then vanquished him.

The final alien who came to the planet before Master Vile finally found his way into the American shields was oddly formed. Never had they faced anyone so bizarrely formed, or crazy-minded—he had a red-colored, skull-like face that had two tentacles on either side of it and a pair of skull-shaped adornments on his shoulders that had tentacles trailing from them; his only reason to come to the planet was to destroy it. Even though he was very powerful, he was beat by the final-known teenagers who aided in protecting the planet. He also fled after Master Vile showed up to see what was going on and then dispose of him.

"Like after the weather changed in 2025, where most everyone reverted to being like cavemen to survive, we returned to our ancestral way of life after 3080 came around. Along with not being able to sustain themselves in the new climate, some of the animals that went extinct weren't able to keep up to the demands that our kind put them under—in order for us to survive, we had to hunt certain species to extinction." Horace thought after reading through what he just wrote.

It was a surprise that the wild horse of the Americas was still around. The same went with the Grizzly and Black bear. The various species of deer, moose, fox, skunk, mink, beaver, otter, raccoon, squirrel, wolf, and coyote were able to keep up to the demands that mankind put on them, thus why they were still around today, while the Grizzly and Black bear came close to being driven to extinction. If not for some very compassionate people, who decided to not dive too deeply into their ancestoral lifestyle, them two species wouldn't be around today. The wild horse, or Mustang, was allowed to breed without management; people in the eastern United States, and parts of Canada and Mexico, hunted and ate them and nothing else for a while, which caused their numbers to plummet to next to nothing in the two periods where mankind was acting like Cro-magnon man. If not for the Native American tribes of the west, who took up to a hundred head of horse, and protected their horses fiercely, the Mustang would be nothing more than a lost national treasure and word in the history books.

In Africa, all but the White Rhino survived through the two periods where mankind was acting like cavemen. Soon after the 2025 climate shift occurred, the Bengal tiger, Sumatran tiger, and Malayan tiger were all hunted to extinction; like with the Grizzly and Black bear, some compassionate people came in to prevent the only-surviving species of tiger from being hunted to death. The South China tiger was considered a relic treasure, and was very heavily protected from poaching; if not for them twenty individuals being tracked, caught, and then sent to zoos, the species wouldn't be here now. The Elephant species was also hit hard—with there being a lot of meat on the animals, they were targeted by the ones who lived in Africa and Asia on a near-monthly basis. Of the Elephant species, only the African bush and forest varieties remained; the bush variety came deathly close to being driven to extinction while the forest variety managed to keep itself well-hidden in the forests of Africa that it called home. The Bison came very close to being driven to extinction, as was the Jaguar, Ocelot, California sea lion, and American alligator. Whenever a whale, or one of the larger ocean mammals or fish, washed up on shore, people flocked to them to get what they could before the predators that they had to compete with came in—with mankind in Africa, some of Europe and Eurasia, and Australia reverting to being fully caveman-like to survive, they didn't use any type of boats or ships to go out to fish with; the people of the Americas did that and, thus, caused the extinction of the North Atlantic and Pacific right whale, Blue whale, Fin whale, Gray whale, Beluga, and Vaquita.

Every species that was driven to extinction in the 2025-2105 and 3080-3380 time period was missed. All the new generation could do if they wanted to see them was go to the museum, or look at the preserved pictures in the books that cataloged what species of animals use to be on the planet. Sometimes, he cursed mankind for the animals that were driven to extinction while, othertimes, when it was quiet and he wasn't drunk or overly stressed out, he knew it had to be done. Mankind didn't kill off them animals for no reason—in order to live to the next day, they had to. In a way, if not for their ancestors doing what they did to survive, they'd not be here or be as technologically advanced as they were.

"Oh yes... let's think of the advancements that we've made since the 3080-3380 time period." Horace smiled.

Surprisingly, the advancements in technology weren't evolved or even touched in the 2025-2105 time period. They were after that period ended then, after the 3080-3380 time period started, they were lost. While technology existed in the 3080-3380 period, most didn't use or even give them a consideration—survival was what the ones who reverted to their ancestoral roots were worrying about; they didn't have time to worry about this or that type of technology or how to evolve it. In the history books, it was said that about 85% of humanity had reverted to being like Cro-magnon man; the rest had stayed mostly the same, but still didn't have the nerve to upgrade their present technologies, or make new ones. For some reason, the ones who made a return to their ancestoral roots decided to stay clear of "modern" civilization, which was why the history books said there were two distinctions in the human race who lived between 2025-2105 and 3080-3380—Deliciae sapien, for the ones who stayed in the towns, cities, and villages, and Interregnum redit sapien, for the ones who reverted to their ancestoral roots and stayed clear of civilization. After the 3080-3380 period ended, and everyone came together as a new unit, the two classifications were dropped; now, it was just Homo sapien.

"Aliena sapien!" Horace started laughing after thinking of what the aliens in the Americas could be called. His laugh attracted the attention of his wife, who was working the stove.

"Horace?" Winifred asked after turning around.

"Nothing... just thinking about something that happened at work today." Horace said.

After his wife returned to doing what she was on the stove, he stood from where he was then went to collect what he wrote. While taking the sheets of paper up, he thought about the challenges that his species had yet to face—if they survived the ones in the past, they could do the same now in the present and then again in the future. He was sure that they'd survive for a while longer, regardless of their having aliens walking beside or completing with them for the limited resources that were out there. Even though the planet's scientists were smart, they weren't able to predict when the next global climate change happened, or when the climate in one set location was to change—they, and the historians, were able to study what they were finding in their digs, and what was written in the books, but they couldn't determine when the weather was to change. In a way, the ones who lived on the planet were on a roller coaster and had to go wherever it went and take whatever it gave them.

"And, right now, we're set to be taken through a series of loop-de-loops." Horace snapped his teeth to his lower lip to stop the giggle from coming out.

He was about to fold what he wrote when he decided not to. With the future not known, and history being changed for either the better or worse, he decided to stash it somewhere safe then, tomorrow, take it somewhere to get laminated—the idea of what he wrote being useful to the future generations was a good one, which he couldn't ignore or discard. He, Horace Alexander Smith, the President of the United States, which was mostly no longer under his control and would probably never be in his control again in his lifetime, went to the room that he and his wife slept in then drew the mattress up; he was putting the pieces of paper that he was holding on the box spring, and then setting the mattress back down, when one named Efagti Izorot Ubalki began his rounds in going through the city that he and his family lived in.

"Some of the women on this planet are right attractive." Efagti remembered his brother saying.

Yes, and he had noticed their beauty and how "curious" they were of him. If a simple look was seen, or they came up to do a quick chat before leaving, he would of said that they were curious in a normal way. The women on this side of the planet weren't doing that. They were giving him long looks, and using a lot of either unnoticed or noticed language with him that discerned what they wanted. If he was leaving the house that his family were to be vacating here in the next twenty days, then seeing everyone who was both female and straight walking around in skin-tight outfits, or outfits that barely held in their parts, he would of run with the thought of their being too interested in him thick on the brain—thankfully, for both him and his family, he wasn't seeing this. No, they were dressing normally; while some had some cleavage showing, or were showing some leg while wearing one of the types of shorts that women were known to wear when it was warm out, they weren't shaming themselves or making it seem too obvious of their interest in him.

On the nineteenth of that month, he and his brother spoke on his airing himself out with one of the humans. He said that he'd search for someone, who'd be kind enough to help him with his problem, but still be healthy enough to not give him any diseases, on that day; due to the weather, he wasn't able to do that. While it was nice on the twenty-fifth, and he could of gone out to do as he both needed and wanted to do, something told him to not do so. All during the day hours of that day, he and Tazir joked on how he was "using up a good moment to stay home" then, when the night hours came, they grew very quiet towards one another. Up to the late-morning hours of the following day, he thought that Tazir's silence was based on the issue that was going on with his cellular—Master Vile was calling it a lot lately and Tazir wasn't speaking a word on why. He also thought it had something to do with one or more of the children—Guyunis spent a decent stretch of hours with his tattoo'd friend on that day, and he knew Tazir didn't like him or Guyunis being around him; Bile and Lazeer got into it on two occasions; and Tazir started talking to Lhaklar on his needing to quit his job soon.

From the moment the various alarms in the house went off to about twenty minutes before that tornado was seen, everyone was happy and looking forward to the plans that they made. Angel went off to work; Bile "snuck" Hazaar from the house; Lazeer spent some time with his friends; Guyunis and Lhaklar went off to spend some time together in one of the establishments in Durmersheim; and Eshal decided to go to the mall in Rastatt. While he called his father, then admitted to what he was causing in his visit, then heard the man belt his head off on what he was doing, Tazir was thinking about taking Sabine out for a walk in the backyard. The man did so right after his father ended his tirade of words to him; the two stayed out in the backyard for around thirty minutes before coming in. Following the activity in the backyard, Tazir took one of the cat's toys out then started engaging her in play. Guyunis found himself as having a very happy, but tired, cat when he came in a couple of hours later.

He decided to use one of the boys' game systems after concluding his conversation with his father. In all, he played four games, and got the tar beat out of him on each one, before deciding to stop and then do something else. At around the time that he was sending Phaggo an email, and catching up on how his life was going, Tazir's mood was changing. The man who seemed to be so uppity suddenly became very listless; instead of wanting to play with the cat, or use his phone, or watch tv, or use the room that the boys created last year, or play one of the boys' video games, he wanted to stand by the hallway that branched from the one that ran into the foyer. While he thought that was odd, he left him alone.

"He didn't stand there after ten fifty-five came around. Once that time came, he went to the living room windows then looked out them." Efagti thought.

Maybe his brother was running on a hunch that something was to happen. He had heard that parents knew things, and grew nervous before they happened; his brother, despite showing the signs of both, didn't get but so bossy with the ones around him. He mostly just paced, looked out the window, mumbled under his breath, then paced some more. When Eshal came in with her many shopping bags at 11:08, Tazir was elated; when Bile and Hazaar walked in through the sliding glass back door at 11:15, the man didn't jump on them or punish Bile for sneaking his grounded brother out of the house; and, when Lazeer came in from seeing his friends at 11:20, the man looked relieved. His brother had just gotten through using the house's phone to call Angel, and see how she was doing, when the report on the news was shown. Tazir, and Hazaar, busted their rear ends to sit down and then watch what was being shown on tv after it was seen.

It wasn't until after the tornado crossed the river, then smashed into Ottersdorf, that his brother's communicator was fished from where it was. Tazir got Angel to clock-out and then come home, then he got Lhaklar to stop what he was doing and then come home; either Guyunis forgot to bring his communicator with him or purposely left it behind—both Tazir and Angel were nervous wrecks after he couldn't be reached. From 11:39 to 11:55, the two were pacing, watching the news, and going to the living room windows; while he wanted to help them over the situation on Guyunis not being able to be contacted, he was dealing with his own issues in trying to keep Eshal, Bile, Hazaar, and Lazeer near the basement. Like them, he was worried about the boy—apparently, Lhaklar didn't stay near him. From what he was able to gather from his nephew, the two of them spent some time in one of Durmersheim's dumps before going their separate ways.

"He found a lot of stuff, and did a spell to clean them right after we decided to leave the dump. Knowing him, he's probably in Karlsruhe—in its flea market." Lhaklar said when he questioned him on where he thought his brother was.

Even though the tornado stayed away from Elchesheim-Illingen, the town felt its effects. It was dark, the wind was horrible, and the roar from the storm was enough to rattle their eardrums. Eshal actually clamped her hands to the sides of her head when the roar grew in pitch; Bile grabbed Hazaar, and then Lazeer, then threw himself over them when the power went out; and Lhaklar rolled himself up in as tight a ball as he could in the corner nearest the basement door. When the power went out, Angel and Tazir came into the room that they were in then positioned themselves before the children. With himself being in the middle of them, their present children were well protected. They stayed like this until 12:10 came around then, after everything calmed down, and the power returned, moved off; the issue on where Guyunis was, and if he was okay, was then looked into.

"He was fine—thank the Gods! While he was in Karlsruhe, he had sense to get in some structure and then wait out the weather. He teleported to the house just before the reports came in on what all was damaged."

While Angel could of grounded him, she didn't. Tazir tried to, but wasn't allowed to install the two weeks that he wanted to put on him. Instead, Angel let him ground her son until the first of next month. Even though Guyunis was grounded, he still left the house to collect the cash that was found in the yard and some "momentos" that'd say he lived through the Colossus. Naturally, now that the danger was over, and everyone was alright, Hazaar was saying that the storm was "awesome" and he couldn't wait to experience another—while Angel just laughed, Tazir said that he hoped to not go through another like it again; Eshal snapped at him for being so "stupid" in saying that while the rest of the boys either agreed with him or said not for a while.

With the bank in Steinmauern being destroyed, and all of its cash and other items being sucked up into the sky and then cast around to the far corners of southern Germany and some of the neighboring countries, the children had found some items that'd keep them rich for a while. In all, €600 was found—Bile and Lhaklar had the most at €130 while Guyunis had €119, Hazaar €112, and Lazeer €109; Eshal found €100, which she opted to return to the ones who owned the bank before deciding to save it for another shopping trip. Before finding himself as needing to find some safe place to hide out the storm in, Guyunis finished up his trip at the flea market then pocketed what he made. It surprised a lot of them when he gave all €45 that he made to Lhaklar—with his receiving a game that Hazaar gave to him, then admitted to stealing the money for, at the start of the month, and then finding himself as not having the controller to it, he had to ask his brother for some money to buy something for it; he'd not be surprised if he paid him back for what he borrowed from him. Even though he and Tazir weren't looking for anything to keep as a souvenir from the storm, they found something too. Just that morning, Tazir found a royal blue diamond necklace, with the diamonds set in sterling silver; he was planning on putting it to the side then giving it to Angel after the move to Moas was done. He, just twenty minutes ago, found a yellow-gold finish watch that had diamonds set around the clock-face, which didn't have numbers or even symbols on it; he was planning to keep it until the trip home was done.

Things were too chaotic yesterday for him to go out, or give into consideration of finding someone to have sex with. While the weather was decent, everyone was too worked up to do much of anything. Today, which looked to be the same as yesterday weather-wise, started out the same; after Angel decided to go to work for a few hours, and the boys went out to look at the damages that the storm made, he decided to go to Karlsruhe. He was twenty minutes arrived, and in on his search for someone presentable to talk to and, possibly, take his impulses on. Seeing as what he thought he was looking for was on the side of the shopping district that Lhaklar claimed wasn't "family-friendly", he was on the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center side of Karlsruhe's twin shopping centers.

"In the center of the Center, there's a section of nothing but bars and strip joints. They're some of the reason to why the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center isn't family-friendly; the rest lie in what else is on the stretch of road that the Center's on." his nephew said during breakfast.

With his nephew working on this stretch of road, he naturally knew what was available and could be used as a means of entertainment. If he had learned that Lhaklar worked not in the mall but one of the strip joints, his jaw would of dropped from where it was and he might of lost all use of his legs; he just assumed that the boy knew what was on the street because he worked on it. His parents thought the same, while Eshal spoke a little on the heated side on why he knew what he told him—seeing as she had plans to play with her pets, and watch some of the movies that she bought on the twenty-sixth, she didn't dwell too long on her brother's knowledge of the Ettlinger Tor Shopping Center.

"And, like he said, there's a few bars and strip joints here." Efagti said after reaching the middle of the Center.

Even though he was an Ubalki, and a member of Zeta Ren's more renown families, he wasn't one to stay away from bars or strip joints. Just after reaching manhood, his father took him to his first bar; he bought him a beer, toasted to his now being a man, then drank with him. On his birthday a hundred years later, his uncle on his mother's side of the family took him to his first strip bar—this was kept secret from his parents, who'd about have a cow over his going to such uncouth places. Even though the Zoopray side of his family spoke with and saw him and his siblings, the Ubalki side didn't. His father's family disowned him after he decided to quit teaching at Afaab High School then start mining and farming; while they were okay with his being a farmer, they weren't on his being a miner. Apparently, his father used some of the money from his family's combined vaults to buy a hundred acres of land; after he found oil on some of his land, he paid them back then, to thank them for their hostility towards him, wiped his hands clean of them. Of his father's family, only his aunt sent them letters. Aunt Clerabia refused to call or come over; his father, while writing back to her, seemed to be mutual on this.

He saw three bars before coming upon his first strip joint. Seeing as he might need to pick the establishment that he went into carefully, he decided to stop then turn around. Two strip joints down from where he was was where his nephew worked; if he had gone near it, he might of gotten an inkling to his nephew not just knowing what all was on this stretch of road. Since he didn't go near it, his nephew's secret on where he really worked at was safe. After turning, he went down the road fifty steps before stopping then turning to look at the bar that was before him.

The bar was a two-level, so it catered to both beverage-wanting patrons and patrons who needed an apartment to sleep off their drunkenness or, possibly, a bed to entertain someone in. He stood before this green-bricked building, that had a yellow-colored roof and four windows on the front, for a few minutes before stepping towards it. As was natural, he showed his I.D., which showed who he was and how old he was, after going inside then approaching the counter where the beverages were made; once he explained that he was a grown adult, who, in human terms, was around thirty, he was granted the priviledge of getting a drink. Following the receiving of his drink, he drank it then look around. He had no more done so when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Look like someone I know, Stranger." the woman said when he turned to see who had him by the shoulder.

"Look like someone I'd like to know." Efagti returned.

While he spoke of who he was, and threw in a few flirts and appeasing remarks to possibly rein in a partner, he took in who he was talking to. The woman was a knock-out. Period. Small, dainty, and well put together was a good way to describe her. Her hips were nicely rounded; her breasts were perky, yet proportioned to her body without being too big or small; and her arms were very nicely smooth and slender. No makeup was worn on her face, which had dark brown eyes and a small nose in it. Once he took notice of her legs, which weren't only long but also very well-tanned, he imagined what he could do with them. After speaking with her, he let her speak; in doing so, he learned that she owned the Die Heiß und Hastig strip joint down the road, was closing in on thirty-five, and was single. In all, it took him thirty minutes of talking, and letting her say what she wanted, and his buying her two fancy drinks, before he got up the guts to ask if she was going to do anything in the next thirty minutes to an hour.

"Nope. I'm all available to whoever catches my eye." Miss. Janina Duerr flashed her luke-warm, brown eyes at him, then flung the lock of dark brown hair, that she started playing with in a flirtatious sort of way, behind her.

"As am I, Miss." Efagti said.

"Rüdiger, be a dear in sporting us a key to one of the upstairs rooms."

The trip to the apartment was slow, but pleasant. Miss. Duerr played with his backside while they went up the stairs, and spoke of how she was looking forward to what they did while in the room. When they were in the room, and the door was locked, she declothed him then started examining him; instead of removing her clothes himself, he let her do that—while he wanted sex, he didn't want her to think that he was just after her body and not all of her. The toying around was done in a normal sense then, when he got on top of her, and slid himself in, trouble started.

The reminding of what race he belonged to, and of how different he was to a human, was instantaneous. Right after inserting himself, he was given a confirmation on what he was told of how compatible the human race was with the Zetakins—once he was in, Miss. Duerr started screaming, then telling him that he was either "too big" for her or needed to remove himself. Even though he spoke to her, and reassured her over everything being okay, she still insisted on his needing to stop; he got in one episode of emitting himself before deciding to go by her wish in leaving her.

Even though their meeting spanned for only twenty-five minutes, he'd remember it for a long time. His hearing, which went after his partner started screaming, wouldn't be the same for the next two days; due to his partner clawing at his backside all while he was in her, he wouldn't be able to put on a shirt properly until the first of next month came around. Thanks to her screams, everyone on the first floor was alerted to something happening upstairs. He wasn't but so surprised over finding himself as being thrown from the establishment right after putting his clothes on, or hearing that if he came back, he'd be arrested. Before leaving the stretch of road that he was on, he said the spell that'd make everyone involved in what just transpired forget what happened—everyone but him, that was; since he needed to remember this episode, he left his memories intact.


	37. Chapter 37

"Weeee...! Look at me, I'm on a trampoline!" Lazeer said after leaving the house, then going into the backyard.

Some of them cringed while watching their brother move around in the yard, which was already too saturated but looked to be getting ready for a few move buckets to be thrown on it. With each step that their brother, who weighed a good, hundred and eighty-one pounds, took, the ground plumed around him; with all the moisture being under it, and their brother's weight being on it, it looked like a balloon that was about to pop. Despite this, it didn't take long for the ones who didn't cringe to move towards the yard; while Bile was smart in using his Elemental Water powers to drain an area to step on, so he wouldn't drop but so far when he stepped on it, Hazaar gained an idea. Unlike Guyunis, who was using a form of his Elemental Fire powers to cause some of the moisture in the area where he wanted to step on to evaporate, Hazaar ran then threw himself at the ground.

In an instant, Bile's decision to stay dry was removed from his control. Right after Hazaar collided with the ground, a wave of water and mud rose around him then flew out to the side. Bile was bathed from head to foot in no time; even though he stood where he was in a daze, he didn't do so for long. Seeing as he could no longer be dry and clean, Bile turned then imitated Hazaar's move; Guyunis smiled broadly then did the same, while Lazeer continued to do as he was and he and Eshal stood on the concrete slab.

"Uh, think I'll go back in. Enjoy the mud, and getting filthy." Eshal said in a voice that they all heard. Before any mud, or water, could be thrown at her, she turned then went inside.

While their sister went in, he paced the concrete strip before, finally, plucking the courage to step out on what his brothers were playing with. Bile was using his powers to throw mud bombs at Guyunis; Hazaar was trying his best to use the ground before the Guayacan trees as a slip 'n' slide; and Lazeer was jumping up and down, and doing his best to make the ground around him cave in. Surprisingly, his brothers weren't the only ones using the too-saturated ground as a play-thing—Jolanka Carver, and Petra and Sarah Klied were using it too. While Jolanka was doing as Hazaar was in using the ground as a slip 'n' slide, she had a board under her. Petra Klied was, surprisingly, wearing a swinsuit and catching some "rays" while her sister was simply chasing after the dog that her family owned. From what he could tell, there were others in the neighborhood that were doing the same in using the opportunity to come out and have some fun—from the mid-morning of October 31 to today, a consistent "drizzle" fell; the sun, on occasion, would come out for short periods but it had no effect on the groundwater. With the neighborhood being abuzz in excitement, and he and his siblings being able to hear it for the last half-hour, it was hard to not come outside or get rid of the feeling of being cooped up.

"Yeah, I suppose so. Just do something before you come in—the last your mother, and I, want is for the house to get all messed up from the mud you guys bring in." their father said after Hazaar swallowed his pride then asked if they could go outside.

About seventy-five percent of the damages made by the tornado was cleaned up. While they found a little more cash lying here and there during their time in checking out the areas where the damage was made, they found no more after October 31 came around. He and his brothers, between October 28 and 31, spent what they found; Bile and he pooled what they found to get Guyunis some more games for his virtual reality game system while Hazaar and Lazeer decided to get the controllers that went with them games before using the rest on some models. Guyunis, while wanting to use what he found on games for his system, decided to use it on something else. On the twenty-ninth and thirtieth, he and Giovanni spent some time in checking out the scarred terrain that spanned between the Rhine and Ottersdorf before going to see some movies; of the five of them, only he had some of what he found on him. Naturally, after the bills were paid and the pantry was full of enough that'd get them by until November 17 came around, they were given their allowances after the current month started.

Eshal, instead of pooling her money with one or more of them to get Guyunis something, or using it on models or movie tickets, went shopping on the thirtieth. All of what she found was spent in the town's community center; when she came home, she didn't waste a second in sending it all to the mansion on Moas.

With their moving here in the next two weeks, they decided to be free in using the Unlimited spell on their allowances. He also decided to give his brothers €200 to use with what they were given by their mother. They got enough cigarettes, or, in Bile's case, pot, to last them a few months then they started shopping for models and other things that'd keep them busy during the times when they were blue after the move was made. Naturally, since they weren't sure on whether they'd be allowed to come to Earth after moving to Moas or not, they used a spell on their smokes to make it so they didn't grow stale or lose quantity as they smoked them—since their father wanted them to quit, they were going to be smart in keeping what they had stashed from him. Their father, while not knowing about the spell on the smokes being done, or what they were to do with them, spoke none on what they spent that month; he seemed to be all for their bringing home them models and other things that they purchased, and in their having them. He did search their purchases for anything that he deemed as "contraband"; when he found nothing of what he was looking for, he nodded his head then went to answer his cellular, which was going off a lot lately.

"I better not." Lhaklar said after his feet came close to sliding out from under him. With his arm still being broken, and in a splint, he didn't need to be falling; his arm needed to heal and, for that to happen, he needed to stay clear of any boisterous activities where slipping, sliding, or falls took place.

While his brothers goofed off with the saturated ground, he turned then went back to the house. Before entering, he stopped to remove his shoes—his going ten feet from the concrete slab caused them to be quite muddy. Once his shoes were off, then placed by the door, he went in; his uncle, he saw, was seated at the table. Along with turning to see who just came in, he acknowledged him. Efagti seemed to of come off whatever he was using or feeling because, since the mid-morning of October 28 came to a close, he seemed to be a more pleasant man to hang around with. Guyunis, though still wary of him, was letting him come to within a few feet of him, and be around his cat; with the way Efagti was acting around him, they guessed it'd be a little while longer before the two were cool with one another.

His uncle, along with wearing a green formal shirt, brown corduory pants, brown socks, and dark brown leather shoes, was using the thing that he called a computer. The man used the thing whenever he wanted to hear or speak with his younger brother, who was either a techno geek or only used a computer to communicate with people who lived far from him. This computer was both slim and a faint blue color; the keyboard lit up a white color when it was on and being used, while the monitor was either dark blue or black. Efagti had let Lazeer use the thing a few days ago. When conversation started on it between the two, the man just opened it then let Lazeer use it; he didn't know who it was that his brother spoke to but he had a distinct feeling that he wasn't related—he couldn't remember anyone in the Ubalki or Surfeit families having the name of Crusoom. Lazeer used the thing for just ten minutes before getting up then excusing himself. While being interested in technology, and mechanical things, he wasn't all that into computers.

The click and clang of pots and pans being returned to their cabinets was faint, but audible, when he entered the house. Once he heard these sounds, he turned to see who was making them. He was surprised when he saw that it was his father who was in the kitchen, and putting things away. Seeing as the man wasn't on his phone, and looked to be bored with what he was doing, he went over to speak and help him.

"Surprised that you're not doing the same as them." his father said before he could speak to him.

"With my arm being the way it is, I can't get too involved." Lhaklar replied.

"Didn't seem to stop you from doing as you did for the last six months."

"True." Lhaklar took the pot that his father was reaching for then did the honor of putting it up. His father, he found, didn't like his doing this; he stopped him from doing as he was then took the pot from him.

"What'd I tell you about taking things that your elders are reaching for? This makes the fourth time in three days that—" his father started to chide him.

"Sorry. Just trying t—" Lhaklar apologized, then started to speak in his own defense.

"Helping another doesn't mean that you can be rude, son." his father said. The man barred him from touching anymore of the pots, pans, or other items that were in the dish drain. "Interrupting your elders is also rude, and I've spoke to you on your doing that as well."

"Take it that you interrupting me isn't rude too?" Lhaklar thought. Seeing as he wasn't welcomed where he was, and that his help wasn't wanted, he went to get a drink from the fridge. Once the drink was in his hand, he stood up then closed the fridge; he found that his father was both done in putting the dishes up and looking at him after he did so. "Dad?"

"You make a decision on what you're going to do with the money that you have?" the man asked him.

Ever since the twenty-fifth of October began, his father seemed to be gunning for him, his job, and paycheck. With his working the club for the last thirty-six days, and finding himself as not having to give most of his paycheck to his mother for the bills and pantry purchases, his envelope was next to bursting. Yesterday, when he was out spending his allowance, and the €200 that he also gave to himself to use with it, he decided to buy a small safe-like piggy bank to put all of what he had in; while moving his money to that safe, he counted it. As expected, his father was at his elbow all while he did it. As a whole, he had a little under €7000 to his name—a lot for one of his age, and a surprise to him and his father. While he wanted to believe that his father was going to let him keep it, and use it when he decided to do so, there was something in his eyes that told him trouble was brewing.

While he'd like to keep his money, then convert it to Moas dollars after the move was made, then use it after getting settled, he had a feeling that he wouldn't be allowed to. Knowing his father, he might take it then set it to the side for a probable school fund or something—he had no interest in continuing with his education but his father might try something in getting him to do so just to ensure that one of his sons wasn't a complete failure.

"No," he answered.

"Take it that you're just going to convert it when we get to Moas then sit on it for a while?" his father asked.

"No."

"What're you planning on using it on?"

"Stuff like what I use my allowance on."

"Going to restrict yourself to how much you spend, or are you planning to use it all at once?"

"Use it over a span of time. Not at once—I'm not spoiled, or uneducated in how to spend money."

In the hours that waned between 10 A.M. and 1 P.M., they knew something happened between Lhaklar and the man who was their mutter's husband. The man looked upset when they returned to the house, and Lhaklar didn't leave the living room couch or even put on a front on how mature he was in going into the house over staying outside and getting dirty after seeing them in the dining room. While their mutter's husband moved around, and stayed quiet towards everyone, they cleaned themselves up; after doing this, they picked a place to sit. From 1 P.M. to just before their mutter came in from work, they either read a book, magazine, or started building one of the models that they bought. Eshal decided to close her room's door then play some music. The man who was their mutter's bruder-in-law watched some tv; like their mutter's husband, he was quiet in the span of time between their coming in from being outside and their mutter's homecoming.

After their mutter came home, and they did their usual in greeting her, they started moving around more freely. Seeing as something was up between two of the house's people, he decided to venture up to the girlie who was his sister's room and then question her on whether she knew what it was or not. Seeing as this was the first time that he was going into her room, he told himself to expect to see nothing but girlie stuff, or stuff that'd make him feel uncomfortable; when he entered the room, which he found to be mostly empty of everything but the furniture and two animals that Eshal called her pets, he saw that it did have a feminine feeling to it. Eshal, instead of shooing him out of her space, or throwing the door in his face after answering it then seeing him as being on its other side, pulled him in then practically led him to her bed—with the event of Petra Klied insulting, and then making him feel a bit on the uncomfortable side that morning being done, he felt awkward when she did this.

"Qui-k-t leading me around!" Guyunis showed how he felt by stopping then tearing his arm from the one who had it. "I'm no-k-t your boyfriend, or am plannin-k-g on being one."

"Ick! You can leave now." Eshal, while serious in being disgusted in what she just heard, decided to be a bit playful in her wording. "You're attractive, but not to me."

"I'll make a memo of tha-k-t."

"You know you're taller than my grandfather, right? He's six-three exactly, while you're a half-inch t—"

"Yeah, so." Guyunis didn't much want to speak of the brother who had the same sire as he. Seeing as how he acted on the seventeenth of April, he'd rather not hear or see of him again; the same went with his wife, who he still thought of as a bitch.

"With your father having two sons, you're the taller of the two." Eshal said. She walked around him, which only increased his feeling of being awkward. "He's six-six, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. He's a gian-k-t, and pu-k-t all them marks on my back plus back-slammed me and put all them other injuries on me." Guyunis said. He sniffed while going to where the window was. "He's no fader of mine."

"I'm sure he's sorry for doing that." Eshal said. She went towards Guyunis, then did her best to place her hand on his shoulder; with his being taller than her by ten and a half inches, she fell a bit short in being able to do so. "He's not all that bad a man. Comparing him to my grandfather, he's right nice."

"You weren-k-t there to see how he was when he found tha-k-t I was his son, so you don-k-t know how he feels about me." Guyunis said. "He was right mean, and said I needed to have my name changed, and then be returned to the orphanage."

"He did?"

Her parents, just after she was gotten straight on what she was doing in the house, and to her brothers, had told her this boy's history, but nothing of what happened between him and his actual father was spoken of. She had a hard time in accepting her great-grandfather, who she commonly called Grampy, and looked up to and respected greatly, as being one who'd denounce a child who was shown on paper as his; after Guyunis spoke of what all he endured, and witnessed, on the seventeenth of April, she had to believe him.

With her father using his cellular a lot lately, she knew he was talking to the various members in their family. Was Guyunis's father one of the people who he was speaking to? Was her Grampy being apologetic towards his actions with Guyunis, or curious of him? With the way her father's cellular was going off these days, she wanted to believe that both were happening and that, when the move was made, he'd make visits to see and get to know him.

Even though she had lived under the same roof as Guyunis for the last six and a half months, she hadn't taken any looks or gotten to know him real good. As much as it pained her, she was still in the dark on who he was; while she knew some things on the rest of her brothers, she was the same with them. She decided to change that now—she wasn't a bad sister, or a sister who tried her best to get her siblings in trouble, or look for ways to make them feel low; while there were moments where she felt a need to be her age, and pester the ones who were related to her, she liked to be mature and polite. After deciding to change how much she knew on this brother of hers, she stepped back then took him in.

"Well... he's better built that Granddaddy Duru, but not as well-built as Grampy Shaam." Eshal thought after taking in the well-muscled arms, and upper torso, of the boy before her. When she looked down, she saw he had inherited his sire's waist; with the way his legs were muscled, he looked to of inherited his father's legs too.

It was easy to see how he came to be mistaken as a man. Like Bile, who was carrying what most in her family called Man's Muscle, he had a lot of muscle on him that made him look like a man. With the way his history was, she had a feeling that it all came from his being forced into doing manual and house labor for the ones who had him before their mother adopted him—while Bile seemed to of gained his muscle by normal means with working out with various things, it seemed very right for this brother of hers to of gained the muscle that he had through this means. His face did seem to show the signs of experience despite still being teenage-like in origin and, despite his being a bit wary of others, he did have an adult-like step to him.

"His hair frames him well, but still gives him an adolescent l—" Eshal started to think.

"Wha-k-t are you looking at?" Guyunis belted. He had noticed her checking him over, which had only elevated how awkward he felt.

"Nothing. Uh, just your back—to see if its healed up yet or not." Eshal returned quickly.

"You know i-k-t hasn't." Guyunis said. Seeing as he best do it now instead of later, he decided to go on and ask what he wanted to know. "You know what happened between your fader and my bruder?"

"Father, not fodder, and, yes, I know what happened." Eshal replied. "My dad was talking to Lhaklar about the money he has, and Lhaklar came back with being a smart aleck. He's grounded until the end of the weekend."

"Tha-k-t's it? Think your fader needs to loosen up—Lhaklar's annoying-k sometimes but he doesn't mean wha-k-t he says or does. He jus-k-t likes to—"

"Be the one who thinks he knows it all." Eshal interrupted Guyunis.

"No. With his being-k the most ma-k-ture of us—"

"Take it you know how he's getting as much money as he does?" Eshal, again, interrupted Guyunis. Guyunis was fast in turning to look at her, and express his disgust in being interrupted. She smiled at him, then went on in saying what she wanted to get out. "I doubt if he's making what he says he does at the Shoe Bot, or that he's working there. According to my daddy, he'd be putting much less in his savings if he was."

"You and your fader need to stop being-k so suspicious of others. Lhaklar's been working the Shoe Bot since Au-k-gust of last year, and he's go-k-t a good posi-k-tion there that brings him wha-k-t he does."

"Yet, in a month and six days time, he has nearly seven thousand dollars to his name? I doubt it." Eshal sniffed, then went to her bed.

Guyunis, seeing as he had his answer on what was going on between the two who he was curious about, nodded his head then went to leave the room. Before exiting, he stopped to scoop up his cat, who was just walking in. While true, he knew that Lhaklar wasn't working where he said he was, or bringing in what he claimed to be getting, he didn't want to spill it or get his bruder in anymore trouble. Unlike Eshal, who he thought was a typical sister who'd run her mouth the second she learned something on one of her siblings, then get that sibling in trouble, he wasn't one to speak of the things that he promised to keep to himself. Like his bruders, he could be trusted to keep a secret; nothing, not even a highly suspicious man who thought he could waltz in then start acting like everyone's datty, could get him to talk of what he knew. Following the conversation that he just had with Eshal, he made a mental note to watch her—though acting different to how she was in June and July, he still thought she was someone to not trust as far as one could spit.

In the hours that lapsed between 3:55 and suppertime, he learned what was in "store" for Lhaklar. Lhaklar was, indeed, grounded but, instead of it being given in the sense that he was use to, it was given in a different one. Like with the "punishment" that he was given last month, Lhaklar was told to plant it somewhere and not do a thing. He was to do this until November 7 came around, then he was free to do as he wished. Their mutter, instead of doing as she did with him in getting the man who she was married to to drop the time that he was to be in the hole, didn't go to his aid.

He learned something during his time in the hole. The man who his beloved mutter was married to was cruel in his thinking of punishment-giving. Unlike their mutter, who liked to make them work until the day of when they were released from their given punishment, the man who she was married to liked to make them sit and then be bored all while they were being punished for something. The ones who weren't being punished were allowed to go and do as they wanted while the one who was being punished was forced to watch them as they went and did as they did. While his mutter rescued him from the man's brand of cruelty in wanting him to be grounded until the move to Moas was made, she wasn't able to get him to drop his given punishment completely or even give him a task or something to do while he was being punished. Even though he was punished on the days when his bruders went out to survey the damage made by the tornado, and collect what they could of the money that use to be in that bank, he went out with them—his mutter's husband let him, but he confiscated all of what he found and then said he could have it back when the first of the month rolled in; if not for Lazeer, he wouldn't of been able to get that money back, or spend it on what he did. He, GuyunisVile Lytro Surfeit, took advantage of the man when he was in the "Son Cave" to go out and make his purchases and spend time with his friend—while Mr. Ubalki knew of this, it looked like he hadn't spoken on it to anyone. On the times where he wasn't able to sneak out of the house, he did as the man said for him to in planting somewhere.

"Hey," Guyunis said to a couch-bound Lhaklar, who turned to look at him immediately after hearing his voice. "take this then hide it."

While Bile was painting some of his new model, and Hazaar was listening to some music, and Lazeer was reading one of his November-issue magazines, he had one of his Ripley's Believe It Or Not books before him. He used the book to obscure his action of giving Lhaklar some gum, and then a brocher of what was expected to play in the Elchesheim-Illingen movie theater. Lhaklar slipped both into his sock, then gave his eye a wink; even though their brothers knew of what he did, they spoke none of what they saw or heard. Following his giving his brother what he did, he dropped the book that he had in his hand then gave Sabine a pet; while petting his cat, he looked at Bile's model. Seeing as things were a bit too quiet in the room, he decided to speak on what he was seeing.

"How're you going-k to paint the panty-hose on her?"

"I'm not. I bought some of that clear-drying glue, and then a pair of panty-hose, yesterday—she's going to have real 'hose on her, Bro." Bile replied without looking up.

"Ahhhh! Mouse! A mouse! Go-k-t to ge-k-t up on a chair and do my dance!" Lazeer snickered at Guyunis's words, which described Bile's model perfectly.

"I want the model you bought a few days ago, Bile. The one of Taarna riding her beast." Hazaar said.

"Get a ticket then get in line—it's not for sale." Bile said.

"Who said I was to get it by buying it from you." Hazaar got an evil look on his face. "I have ways of getting in your room, and stealing certain things that you own."

"I'll remember to turn my security system on tonight."

"Why're you going after the Taarna model when he has Miss. Blow-Up Doll in his closet?" Lazeer asked. "Seems like that'd be the better thing to go after if you're looking to steal something from him."

"True." Hazaar said.

"Betty's under heavy guard, so he won't be able to get her." Bile said quickly.

"Really? If that's true then why's she in my room?" Guyunis asked. Bile looked at him; he replied by smiling. "Slipped her from your close-k-t last night. Been havin' my fun with her ever since."

"You best be joking." Bile said.

Everyone in the house knew what was being referenced. Earlier that year, Bile found a blow-up doll in Durmersheim's dump; instead of discarding her, he brought her home then dressed her up. On the days where they needed a laugh, he brought her down then propped her up to give their mother, and sister, a scare. He also "danced" with her; even though he loved his oldest bruder, he wasn't shy in saying how terrible a dancer he was. While their mutter wished he'd get rid of her, he hadn't; the man who was her husband was adamant on it being left behind, which he and his bruders knew Bile wasn't to do. Until that doll was picked up then properly, and parentally, disposed of, it'd remain in their bruder's possession—surprisingly, Mr. Surfeit hadn't taken the chance to retrieve the doll when Bile wasn't home or near his room; while they thought this was odd, they knew he had eyes for the thing.

"Since it's been brought up, when you were in Cra-Aiii-Zee, how many of them Heavy Metal models did you see?" Lazeer asked Bile.

"Six." Bile replied. "Got two—the one of Taarna astride her beast and the other of Taarna when she was naked, messed up, and getting dressed."

"When I went there, they weren't there. You must of gotten the last two, Bile." Hazaar said. "Got two of them models myself."

"Oh yeah? Which ones?" Bile asked.

"The Into the Fog one, and the one of the Marine Girl holding her sword to that bug-like monster."

"Go-k-t the one of the monster playing the guitar that-k-t looks like a naked woman's torso yesterday." Guyunis said.

"Man, when I went in that store today, I only saw the one that I got." Lazeer semi-moped.

"Which one did you get?" Hazaar asked.

"The one of the monster-transformed Fiste." Lazeer replied.

"We must of bought them out of nearly everything, then." Bile smiled.

"Who go-k-t Den?" Guyunis asked. "When I got my model, there were four of tha-k-t left."

"Whoever it was, hope it was female and she doesn't get too excited from looking at it." Bile chuckled.

"Julie." Lhaklar whispered.

"Huh?" Bile and his brothers turned to look at Lhaklar, who decided to end his silence. Just because he was grounded for the next few days didn't mean he had to be completely silent. "From Heavy Metal 2000—the box calls her The Guardian."

"That's Taarna... isn't it? Wasn't Taarna in both films?" Bile asked.

"No, and the sequel is dope in comparison to the original." Lhaklar said. "Also got the one of the Cybercop— _looking_ forward to when I get to building her, then rigging her up in the room that I'll be relocating to soon."

"Where'd you find them two?" Guyunis asked.

"Yeah, I don't remember seeing them when I was in Cra-Aiii-Zee." Bile said.

"Didn't get them there. They were in Der Neuheit." Lhaklar replied. He smiled when he saw the expressions on his brothers' faces. "They're selling a lot of models based on the magazine and two films in the far back of the store. Think, if you get there fast enough, you can check-in on what they have and get some of it."

"I'll definitely be making a trip to there tomorrow." Lazeer announced.

After speaking of the Heavy Metal models, they were quiet up to when the call for everyone to come to supper was made. While Lhaklar went to the dining room, then took his place at the table, they went up to put their things in their rooms; when they returned to the house's first level, then went into the room that their bruder was in, they found that he wasn't in the chair that they thought he'd be in. The same went with the man who was their mutter's husband. Mr. Surfeit, instead of sitting in the chair that was across from the one that was designated for the Family Creator, was sitting in their mutter's chair; the one that Bile would normally sit in was vacant, as was Lhaklar's, while his had Lhaklar's rear end on it. His bruders took this sight in silently, and calmly, for a few seconds before going forward to sit down. Instead of doing as they, he stood where he was.

Bile sat in the chair that Lhaklar would normally frequent, while Hazaar sat across from him. Lazeer sat beside Hazaar after Bile claimed the chair that he did. When Eshal entered the room, she stopped for just a second to look at him before going forward to claim the chair that was to the left of her fader. The man who gave him trouble last month claimed the seat that was beside Lazeer after coming into the room. While taking in this odd sight, and thinking that things should return to how they use to in how they ate their meals, he started hearing the tormentor that claimed his attention in August and September.

"This is how it starts. When things start to even out, and you think you're settled in, they change things up just to make you feel like the last man standing." the voice said.

"Just... something new that they're trying. That's all." he tried to convince himself while the goosebumps formed on his arms.

"They're to have you take the seat across from the Head of the Family, and to take it after everyone else has. You're to get up and get things while they eat, and you won't ever be allowed to eat a hot meal again. They'll make sure of that, and of you collecting the dishes and then cleaning them afterwards."

"Stop it. Mum wouldn't—"

"Seems to not be speaking of what you're seeing. She's bringing things to the table now, and ignoring you, is she not?"

"Yes but—"

"It's the start of the end for you and your happy life. Enjoy slavery again."

"No."

"Enjoy it."

"No."

"Enjoy it. Enjoy it. Enjoy it."

"No! I won't, and she nor my bruders would have me returning to being the one who does all the handiwork or work that needs to be done in the house."

"Enjoy it, Servant. Enjoy it, Demon. Enjoy i—"

"Guyunis?" the voice of his mother penetrated the one of his tormentor. He shook his head, then rubbed his arm, after hearing it; after doing them things, he noticed that she was no longer fixing the table up. She was now beside him. It looked like she was to lead him to the chair that was across from the one that her husband was sitting in.

"Mum?" he said.

"Come on," she said. She took him by the arm then gently led him to where the only chair that was unoccupied was.

"Mum..."

"Figured it was time to begin the transition in how we're to sit when we dine, son." his mutter's husband said. "It's no different than the one that we use to dine in."

"Huh? Use t... huh?" Guyunis thought he asked. He blinked his eyes, then turned to look at his mother. He had no more done this before finding himself as doing the age-old thing of sliding the chair that was before him out from under the table then sitting in it; his mother smiled, then gave him a pat on the shoulder before going to the chair that was to the right of the man who was now in her seat.


	38. Chapter 38

After appearing where he did, he stopped then blinked his eyes. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he bet his left arm that his father and brother felt the same way. When the thought of going to the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve came to him, he thought he'd appear in a very green area that was teaming in life; what he found himself as teleporting to was very different. Instead of seeing what he thought he'd see, he saw nothing but a very stressed out area that looked to need more than a single storm's worth of rain dumped on it.

The Nilgiri Reserve was located in the Western Ghats and Nilgiri Hills ranges of South India. It was said to compromise of 5,520 km and have a rich diversity of plant and animal life in it. With the way this part of the reserve looked, he doubted if it'd retain that rich diversity for long. It looked very parched. The smell of things baking in the heat was so prominent that he thought he could detect the eggs in the nests of the trees cooking. All matter of green, with which the plant-eating animals depended on, was brown and dropping from the branches that it hung on; the dirt was so dry that he saw cracks; and the nearby water source looked to be nearly drained of the water that it carried. About thirty seconds after appearing in this dry area, which was supposedly tropical and subtropical, he stepped forward then made the move to make a ground spear. Bile did the same, while their father stood nearby with the rifle that he brought along resting handily at his side.

"Supposedly, this place has around eighty species of mammals, two hundred species of birds, sixty species of reptiles, and fifteen species of amphibians in it." Hazaar thought after making the decision to go on with his hunt. "Twenty-seven species of fish and around two hundred species of butterflies are said to call it home too."

The Bengal tiger was gone, while its cousin, the Indian leopard, wasn't. From time to time, the black panther would be seen; its numbers were so low that to see it was considered an omen. The Guar was still here, as was the Mongoose, Malabar giant squirrel, Lion-tailed macaque, Gray langur, and Nilgiri tahr. Over the years, an attempt to recreate the Indian elephant was done; no such luck came to the scientists who tried, but they did manage to introduce a type of Elephant that no one really considered as being in the Elephant family into the reserve. While he was hoping to bring something down that'd make his father think of him as a real hunter instead of a hunter-in-training, he was also hoping that it wasn't big. With what was said to be living here, he had plenty of chances to find that something—hopefully, he didn't get too sweaty or tired while doing it.

While they didn't know it now, they would in the years to come. The area was looking the way it did because it was starting to take on the appearance of what it'd have for the next one hundred and fifty-five years. The climate, unbeknown to him and his family, had made its decision on what it wanted to be; most of the planet's forested parts would wittle away to next to nothing or cease to exist all together in the next twenty to thirty years thanks to the heat that the planet would be subjected to. In around twenty-five years, half of the Nilgiri Reserve's forestland would be gone. Replaced with sand, and dotted with the trunks of the trees that, somehow, didn't wither or die from the heat. Like with Egypt and Africa a couple of years ago, most of India would be abandoned; the humans who lived here would move on to areas that weren't so hot or desert-like, and where life wasn't so difficult to achieve.

While the attempt would be made by the humans to rescue some of the animals that called India home, they wouldn't be able to rescue them all or even take in the ones that were the more renown in the country. Like with the shock of hearing that India was desert-like instead of tropical, he and his family would be shocked to hear that seventy-five percent of its animals perished in the years that the drought took place.

Like with this shocking development, they didn't know that the new climate had its sights on changing how Russia, England, Scotland, Ireland, China, Japan, Australia, and the eastern half of the United States looked. For the next fifty years, the entire eastern side of the United States would experience storms that'd pelt them with rain and snow; England, Ireland, and Scotland were to encounter countless storms that'd cause most of their population to be swept out to sea; China and Japan were slated to become the Wind Capitals of the planet; most of Russia was to be like India; and most of Egypt was to become a soupy mess. The shock of Australia becoming like a new Greenland, thanks to all the snow it received in the next one hundred years, would be right up there with the rest of them.

"Be sure to get under some shade if you get too hot." he heard his father telling them.

Interestingly, the western side of the United States, Central and South America, and most of Canada would remain the same climate-wise. In the rest of Europe and Eurasia, the climate would be erratic with both temperature and rainfall. The ones who lived in the parts of the world where the climate wasn't all that tedious would help the ones who were effected by what was going on in their country; unsurprisingly, the one who claimed to own and rule the planet would see the troubles of the eastern hemisphere nations as a good thing. Master Vile would do his best to use the stresses of the new climate to punish the ones who thwarted him, then get them to surrender to him and his rule by offering to help them with certain things. He'd find himself as being very surprised over seeing his offer as not being taken. Even though things in certain countries were bad, terrible even, the ones who both lived in and governed them would refuse to bow to him or accept that he was their saving grace.

Master Vile, who had already announced that his too-long residency on the planet was coming to a close here in the next few months, would roost on his rump on Gamma Vile while the ones on Earth dealt with the issues thrown to them. He'd not lift a finger to help anyone, and that included the ones who moved to the planet. For him, he had achieved his initiative in getting half of the planet as his, changing its government around to what he wanted it to be, opening it up to other races in the Universe, and built what he wanted on it; only when he was absolutely needed to be on the planet would be come to it or do anything with it.

"Hey! Hazaar! Keep an eye out for snakes—just found a 'skin, which means one is in the area." Bile, who was a short distance from him, said.

He was just starting in on looking for something to hunt when he found a snake. With the way it looked, it was dangerous but also trying its best to stay out of the heat and not do anything that required any heavy-duty exercise. It did look to be newly shed, so it was probably the one who's skin Bile saw. India was home to many snakes, but there were two that one had to watch out for—the one that he came across was a mostly deep yellow to tan color and had a series of dark brown spots on its body; this, he knew, was the commonly aggressive Russell's viper. When he found this snake, he respected it by giving it a wide berth. While it watched him, it didn't strike or even move from where it was. Following his successful distancing of the snake, he returned to trying to find something to hunt.

With it being as hot as it was, it didn't surprise him that he found nothing for the first thirty minutes of his hunt. The old man surprised him and his brother by saying for them to get their stuff together then take him to a place so he could see how they went by the trade that their mother taught them; up to ten-thirty, they were just watching and listening out for Guyunis, who seemed to be experiencing another of his regressions. While he wanted to hunt, and show-off his skills while doing so, he was slightly nervous over having his father watching him as he did it. The same went with his having a gun on his person. Two ideas came to him when he saw it; one revolved around the man using it for his own hunt, while the other was on his using it to threaten him and Bile with.

Except for him and Lazeer getting into it on the fifth and yesterday, and Bile causing the man a little headache on the seventh, they hadn't earned the right of being threatened by a weapon. Lhaklar was newly free of his weekend-long grounding, but that didn't mean he wasn't causing some issues in the house—he and Efagti got into it yesterday following something that Efagti said over the phone to his father, then he and their father got into it on what that thing was a few hours later; if not for their mother coming in to quiet everyone up, Lhaklar would of been grounded again. Eshal was being semi-okay to get along with; the only issue that they were having with her revolved around her thinking that she could "sister-talk" Guyunis into not being the way he was, or using the terminology that he used. Of the six of them, it was really only Guyunis who was giving them some issues.

"But he's not doing anything to warrant anyone threatening one of us with a gun." Hazaar thought.

He was about to think of what was going on with Guyunis when something scrambled past him. Without putting much thought into it, he raised his spear then threw it. His father, who was standing nearby, on the bark of a fallen tree, said nothing after his spear disappeared, or after he went to see if it caught anything. The man was still where he left him when he left the growth that he entered; instead of being alone, he had his spear in one hand and the tail of an animal in the other. The animal that he caught was long and slender and mostly dusky brown to light buff in color. Its limbs were short, while its neck, head, and tail were elongated. Coming from behind the ears, then running to the shoulders, were two dark stripes; there were two, shorter stripes on the neck. On the animal's back, there were three to four longitudinal rows of spots; their size varied as they went to the belly. While the forelegs had a span of spots all along them, the hind ones only had them running to the hocks. The tail had eight to nine bands on it, which were separated by narrow white rings. In all, it was twenty-seven inches long; with it being lean, it was light in weight—at most, it weighed a pound to maybe pound and a half. After nabbing this animal, he walked it over to his father. He placed it by him then, seeing as he wasn't done with his hunt yet, turned to return to what he was doing. His father did nothing but nod his head at him when he saw what he caught; before leaving his kill by him, he guessed that he'd guard it from predators for him.

He was no more back on the hunt when something bigger, and more worth his time, came out from the dead and dying growth around him. He stared at this huge, four foot, nine inch animal for a second or two before raising his spear then throwing it. While his father made a grunting sound behind him, then raised his rifle, he produced more spears; once each was in his hand, he threw them. The animal, which was a bluish-gray color, and had a set of four inch horns on its head, ran off after the first four spears struck it then, after hearing that he was pursuing it, stopped then turned around. The two of them stared at each other again before a bellowing honk was heard; the animal lunged at him, then charged in his direction, right when his final spear was thrown. Unlike the other spears that he threw, this one became embedded in the animal's throat. The animal produced a coughing sound before collapsing to the ground; he was just going towards it, to see if it was dead or not, and to collect one of the spears that he used and then dispose of the others, when his father appeared behind him.

"Hazaar, you alright?" his father asked.

"Yep." he replied.

While taking notice of the end of his father's gun not having any smoke billowing from it, he went towards the animal that he just caught. When he reached it, he saw it had some sturdy, but thin, legs on it. The back was sloping, while the neck was deep and had a white patch on its throat. There was a short mane behind and along the back, which ended behind the shoulder; curiously, the animal had a few white spots on its face. While removing the spear that was in the animal's throat, he noticed it had a column of hair on the dewlap; the tail was tufted, and had a few white spots on it. Following the removal of the spears that were in its sides, he discovered it was a male and in its mid-adult years. After the last spear was removed, he smashed the ones that he didn't need then spell-sent the animal home. His father nodded at him after this was done then gestured for him to follow him.

"What the hell?" Hazaar exclaimed after they reached the area where his first kill was left.

With his father leaving his "post", he had left the first animal unguarded. This could of caused a predator to come up; it could of gotten the idea of coming across a nice prize and then taken it with the intent of eating it to stay healthy. While he was okay with this happening if the kill was too big, or looked diseased, he wouldn't of been okay if it happened now. Luckily, for him and his father, it wasn't. Instead, they came upon Bile sitting on the tree that their father was formerly standing on. While Bile looked fine, he also looked hot. With the three animals sitting nearby, they guessed he had a right to be.

The first had a rich, thick, and uniform reddish-brown coat. Running from the back of the head on down to the tail was a dark dorsal stripe; there were a series of faint white stripes on its sides. The tail, while short, and brown, had a white tip to it. The horns were delicate in origin; they had three branches to them. Beside this deer-like animal, which was approximately four feet long, was a mostly black primate that had a crown of golden-brown hair on it.

"I'm going to kick you in the ass!" Hazaar exclaimed after seeing the third animal. "You caught a snake? Why and how?"

"Don't think it's a snake." Bile replied. When he held his arm up, they saw he wasn't unscathed from his hunt. From the elbow of his right arm to the wrist were a series of punctures that could only come from teeth. "I stepped on it while going for the monkey; it leaped at me twice before I could kill it."

"Let me see that." TazirVile went over quickly then inspected the punctures on Bile's arm. "Doesn't seem like it grabbed to envenomate, or constricted you after biting you."

"It didn't. It just bit then let go. Kept doing so before I could get my knife out then stab it." Bile said. He then pointed at the animal that injured him. "Think I'll find a special place for it in my room, then scare ma and Eshal with it when we move to Moas."

The animal, which one of their unborn siblings would fine a particular fancy for, was almost earthworm-like in appearance. It was just under four and a half feet long; along with having a ring-like, segmented look to it, it was tan in color. Curiously, when he went to turn it over, it had two, tiny leg-like things where the opening that was its cloaca was; it had ears and these odd folds on its sides. In a way, it was the ears that descerned it as not being a snake—them animals didn't have them types of anatomy. After looking the animal over, then going over to inspect the one that he left with his father, and seeing that it was okay, he turned to look at his brother. It was then that he noticed he had a small pouch on him, which had a container of water on it. Seeing this made him laugh; here was his oldest brother, hot as can be, and with puncture marks on his arm, and he had a thing of water on him... which didn't even look to be opened yet.

"Hazaar?" his father said after hearing him laugh.

"Nothin'." Hazaar returned.

"Don't recall hearing or seeing you take anything down while I was here, son. When'd you find the chance to get these?"

"Was an ambush hunter on the deer and monkey. Both were facing away from me when I came upon them; a simple throw with the spear did the trick on the deer, while a hail of rock arrows brought the monkey down." Bile replied. "I mostly just hissed when the snake-like thing and I did our dance."

"That so."

TazirVile reined in his annoyance over missing out on the hunt that his oldest son did. While he saw his secondborn son take down the animals that he caught, and was impressed with what he saw when he did it, he had no confirmation on how well a hunter his oldest son was. The whole reason in his being here with his sons was to see how they went by a hunt, and if he could denounce his wife's claim on training them or not; half of that was achieved while the other wasn't. Angel looked to of trained Hazaar well. He handled himself like one who was a pro in the trade, and he didn't get hurt either. While Bile was sporting some injuries, he wrote them off on the basis of the boy possibly being in a constrained area and not being fast enough to get himself out of the way of trouble or retrieve something that'd prevent that trouble from happening. Seeing as Hazaar had proved his skills in the trade, he turned to him then asked for him to go home. His son looked at him for a few seconds before nodding his head then doing as he asked of him.

Seeing as he wasn't fully satisfied with what he saw of Bile's hunt, he decided to keep him here for a while longer. He saw to sending all of the animals that were killed to Moas, then calling the mansion to ensure that they were tended in the way that his sons wanted them to be tended in, then sat down. Bile did nothing for a little while; he opened the container of water that he had on him, then drank some of it before bringing his arm up. The puncture marks on his injured limb were washed, then wiped with one of his son's hands, before the container's cap was returned to it. Once them two things were done, his son stood up then went off. He followed him.

They walked for a long time, and took shade whenever they could, before coming upon a river. Like with the water source that was in the area that they appeared in after teleporting here, the river was low—while it wasn't nearly drained of the sustenance that the area depended on, it was half-dry. The area's bird-life seemed to be flocking to it for some relief from the heat; in a way, he understood his son's action in producing a spear then going forward to hunt one of the avians. There was good opportunity here, and plenty to go around in prey-matter; he approved of his son's move in going to hunt one of the birds. He was surprised by how his son handled himself after they reached the area. Instead of running forward, scaring everything in sight, and causing the birds to fly off and his effort to be for nothing, he stalked the animals that they came upon. His every muscle was taunt; his eyes were scanning the span of wildlife before them; his step was sure, and as quiet as could be. Really, when the birds flew and scattered to the unpresent wind, it wasn't his son who caused it. A twig from the river's other side was stepped on, which caused them to take flight.

Bile's spear flew the second the birds did. While it whizzed through air, he imagined it being embedded in soil, or the water of the river, instead of the hide of a bird. He was given another surprise when, instead of that happening, it struck the side of a stork-like bird that just took flight. Bile was going forward to retrieve his prize, which had a black head and neck, and a black and white body, when a growl was heard; right when the predator was seen as emerging from the river's other side, and coming towards both the bird and his son, he rose his rifle. His only reason to bring it was to ensure that his sons stayed safe—if something happened that their inexperienced selves couldn't handle, or get out of the way of, he'd come forward to protect them. Like with his prior attempt to aid Hazaar in keeping safe from the ungulate that he took down, where he wasn't able to get out a shot because the animal and his son were too fast, he found himself as not able to get off a shot. Bile stomped his foot, then grabbed the spear that came up from the ground; once the spear was in his hand, he threw it. Another was produced, which wasn't used. The predator, a beast that looked very much like a domesticated cat, hissed when the thrown spear missed it, but threw water on it; when it saw his son standing over the bird that he killed, it decided its presence wasn't needed. It turned tail then ran off right when his finger started to squeeze the trigger of his rifle. When it was gone, he had to force himself to release the pressure of his finger and then lower his weapon. His son had already removed the spear that was embedded in the bird; in one fell swoop, he grabbed one of the long, pink legs then picked it up. While the bird's black bill crested the water of the river, his son carried it to him. He had no choice but to smile, then nod his head—his oldest son was, indeed, well-trained in the act of hunting, and looked to know well how to protect the things that he brought down. He couldn't help but be proud of him.

"Gramma Ashaklar would about strangle you to death for that." he said after his son reached him.

"Think I'll get it stuffed then send it to her." Bile said.

"Sure on that?" pride swelled in him. For his son to do that said something—he wasn't stingy, or immature, despite the fact of his kill being his.

"Sure. See no reason to not do so."

They went home after he caught and then retrieved the bird. For Bile, he was glad to be back where it was cooler—in the time that he was in India, he bet he lost five pounds. The sweat just rained from him; his shirt was dark, and clinging to his body; and his pants were almost the same way. While his socks were dry, he wanted them, and his boots, off. A good shower, plus some time just sitting naked in his room, sounded like a good thing. He decided to do it after going inside. Before entering the house, which, while not as cool as it was outside, was still cooler than the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, he gave his father his bird; seeing as the man knew what he wanted to do with it, he trusted him to take care of it. His father didn't smite his trust. He sent it to the mansion, then used his cellular to tell one of his employees what he wanted done with it, right after it was given to him.

Unlike Hazaar, who grew to being a bit nervous after seeing the rifle that Lhaklar purchased from Mr. Bonnaire, then signed over to their father, he knew why their father took it from the room that he and their mother slept in. With his not ever seeing them conduct a hunt, or knowing if they were safe or not when they did one, he decided to retrieve it to ensure that they stayed safe during the hobby that they were doing. He felt no nervousness when he was hunting; while the act of going out to hunt was a surprise, and having their father with them an even bigger one, he was glad to of received the word to do so. Now that the man had seen that he and his brother were good to go in the trade, he might decide to let them continue it after the move was made. Two of the five of them had shown him that they knew what they were doing; he was sure that Lazeer, who was somewhere with Efagti, doing the same as he and Hazaar in finding something to hunt, would show his skills and win the favor that he also desired from their sire. Lhaklar, in the coming days, might also win favor from their father when it came to hunting while, with Guyunis, it might take a while longer to do.

"Shit... Guyunis!" Bile stopped, then turned to go back to the house's first level.

A search of the house was done after his adopted brother was thought of. Even though he was tired, and sweaty, and wanted to spend some time in his room alone, he decided to put it off to find the one who he was worried about. On the evening of the third, Guyunis started acting funny; during the days that followed, his odd actions were noticed as not being odd. Something upstairs was tapped, which sent him into another regression—instead of staying in his room, or being extremely sensitive to the old man, Eshal, and Efagti, he started trying to act like a common butler. He collected clothes, then took them down to be washed, dried, and then folded; he set the table, collected the dishes that were eated on or with; cleaned dish after dish while looking over his shoulder, and being tense; and kept asking if he was "needed". Their mother took notice of this change rather quick, and took steps to stop it while everyone else didn't. Eshal, in the days where this regression was strong, was constantly on him about what he was doing; when he spoke to her, she'd come back by trying to correct the way he spoke. On the sixth, their father finally put a stop to that. Efagti was being as supportive as he could with Guyunis; he was also trying to help as much as he could to get him back to how he was before the evening meal of November 3 was consumed. He and his brothers, while understanding the probable reason for this regression, and trying to be normal in some aspects, were doing what they could to keep an eye on him and help him in returning to normal. Before he and Hazaar were called away to do a fatherly supervised yet not supervised hunt, they were playing a hand of cards while keeping an ear trained to the door that went to their brother's room.

Instead of going out to do things with their time, he and his brothers stayed home to look after Guyunis. For the last four days, none of them had done a thing outside or even left the house to do their usual. Except for Lhaklar, who refused to leave the house or do anything outside of it, today, the eighth of November, was the first time in five days that they had done something constructive with their time; up to now, he didn't know the cause behind Lhaklar's adamancy in wanting to stay home. Instead of showing the old man the skills that he had in the hunt, and being away from home, Lhaklar wanted to stick around to keep an ear and eye open on Guyunis. This fact struck him so hard in the face that he came close to tumbling over backwards—he searched the house, from top to bottom, and then around it, frantically before stopping in his tracks then flexing a muscle. The house was so quiet... Surely, Hazaar came here after the old man told him to, and would be here when they came in; to find the house so deserted seemed odd. He was about to call out for someone, with the hope of hearing Guyunis's voice, or something that told him someone was here, when a hand landed on his arm. Once the hand was on him, he jumped then turned. His eyes came close to watering when he saw his sister.

"You okay?" Eshal asked.

"Yeah, just... just wondering where everyone is, and why everything's so quiet." Bile replied.

"Lhaklar and Guyunis went out twenty minutes ago. Hazaar's in his room; seeing as he just got out of the shower, think he's getting dressed. Dad's somewhere, while Uncle Efagti and Lazeer are still out."

"Ma?" stupid question to ask. With it being a Tuesday, and closing in on noon, she wouldn't be home. She was at U-Krop-It; up to when the fourteenth came around, she was to continue working.

"At work. Are you sure you're okay? Look like you've seen a ghost."

"Just worried about Guyunis, is all."

Following the discovery of where everyone was, he went up to do as he wanted. The shower was refreshing, as was the plain act of sitting in his locked room with nothing on; after forty minutes passed, he decided to get up then don something that'd cover him. The shirt was avocado green, and lacking a sleeve while having two tears in the stomach region, while the pants were dark gray. When he went to find himself a pair of socks, he quickly scooped up something that was gray; the boots were his usual pair, which were brown and heavy. Once this was all donned, he went to see if he could find something to listen to. Before popping the Judas Priest CD in his stereo, he unlocked his door; the first song on the disc was just started to play when Lazeer came in with Efagti.

"Tazir should be very proud of his sons—they're smart, and know well how to hunt." Efagti said into his phone.

"Hunt? What's been going on over there—why's the word "hunt" being brought up?" Cheshire Keueitt Ubalki's voice came through the phone loud and clear.

"Tazir decided to see how some of his sons are when they're doing a hunt. Think he got his answer on how Angel trained them."

About ten minutes after getting in from going to Russia, he picked his cellular up then dialed his father's number. Seeing as he just witnessed something fantastic, and just got through disclosing it to his brother, he figured that a call to his father should be done. When Tazir spoke of how he was going to take Bile and Hazaar out somewhere to see how they conducted themselves in a hunt, he decided to see if he'd let him redeem himself by letting him take his youngest son out somewhere to do the same thing. His brother said yes; right after he left with Bile and Hazaar, he took Lazeer to the Pinezhsky Nature Reserve, which was in northern Russia. While a quick trip back to the house was done to get some coats—it was cold in the region where they went, which wouldn't be all that effected by the new climate in the years to come, and they needed something to protect them from the elements—, they fared well in the area and Lazeer did more than prove himself worthy of being given the title of Hunter.

Lazeer produced a spear by stomping on the ground then, not two minutes after having it in his hand, used it. The wolf was small, feminine in structure, and borderline emaciated; her coat, while beautiful and near-black, was mangy in spots, which only added more evidence to her poor health. While the wolf was quickly downed, the Mountain hare took some time to corner and then catch. Lazeer did his utmost best to stalk it before getting fed up—with the animal being highly tuned into its surroundings, there was no way to take it down unnoticed. It took around twenty minutes of plain walking, and freezing their selves into popcicles, before the herd of Saiga's were found. Lazeer showed himself, and his skills, well when he stalked them; he singled out the oldest male in the herd, then got up to within ten yards of it before standing upright then throwing his weapon. The animal, which was oddly face, and around ten pounds underweight, bolted right after the spear struck it. His youngest nephew finished it off with two other spears, which took out one of its legs and went into its stomach.

"I'm getting the head, pelt, and hooves preserved." his nephew said after approaching his kill.

"Think, with its looks, you should do that." he replied.

While the coat was thick, and a pale, grayish-brown color, its head was shaped almost like an Elephant. When he came to within two feet of the thing, he saw that its nostrils were bloated, and dropped down from the face. The horns were fifteen inches long, thick, and slightly translucent; quite curiously, they were wax-colored and had twelve to twenty rings on them. Seeing as the animal was so oddly faced, he snapped a picture of it—Tazir, when he saw it, agreed whole-heartily that the head should be preserved. His brother agreed to preserve the Saiga's pelt and hooves before hearing of how the other animals were caught; when questioned on what he wanted done with them, Lazeer said he just wanted the pelts from them. The rest of the wolf and hare were to be eaten.

"Sounds like Angel's done a better than grand job in teaching them things." his father said after hearing of how his grandson's hunt went. "Which of the boys did some hunting today?"

"Bile, Hazaar, and Lazeer." Efagti answered.

"Lhaklar and Guyunis didn't do one?"

"No."

"How are them two? Haven't heard a thing of how they're doing."

"Lhaklar experienced a couple of days of being grounded earlier this month for being smart with his father; he's doing well now, so I think he's learned his lesson on giving respect where it's needed." Efagti answered.

"What caused him to get smart with Tazir?"

"The question on what he's planning to do with the money that he has." Efagti replied. Seeing as it might come up, he spoke on what was learned of what his nephew had in revenue. "Lhaklar's got over six thousand dollars on him. He says he got it from working. Tazir's thinking about putting it somewhere, then letting him spend small amounts of it at a time."

"Think that's a good idea. A boy his age shouldn't have a substantial amount like that on him all the time—it'd make him think he can use it all at once." Cheshire said.

"Don't think that'd happen. Lhaklar's like his brothers in being right smart, and he seems to restrict himself on what he uses each month. Since moving in with Angel and Tazir, I've noticed that it's he who stretches his allowance out the most. At most, he might use twenty or so of what he earns from his job. If something comes up that his family wants to attend, he makes sure to distribute something to everyone so everyone can have a good time."

"Good to know that he's got brains, and thinks of others." Cheshire said. "What of Guyunis? How's he nowadays?"

"He's... experiencing one of his regressions right now. We're doing what we can to get him out of it."

"Be slow with him. You know his history, and that it'll take time for him to—"

"I know, and I think Tazir does too. Eshal's doing well. Acting like the sister that she is."

"Is she treating Guyunis well?"

"She's experiencing some issues with him but nothing out of the ordinary, or that her parents can't handle."

"Keep an eye on things is all I can say." his father said. Two minutes of silence happened between them before the sound of a chair creaking was heard. "Nice to hear from you; I need to go now—still got some issues to tend over here with the courts, but all's well over here. Keep my updated on what's going on over there, and do your best to be nice with everyone. We don't need anything to happen before they move home."

"I will, and I promise to be behaved." Efagti said.

He knew that was only partially true. While his father won most of his court cases, and wasn't to lose his mining license, he was still experiencing some trouble with Mr. Glyonsi. Now, his overseer's wife was coming forward to say that all of her husband's actions were right—a "pay-cut" was done in August; due to the stress that her husband was under, he had no choice but to do as he did with the mine. His father was producing his records of the man's salary, but she continued to run her story. The Glyonsi's had no children, yet Mrs. Glyonsi was saying that the "pay-cut" forced them into shelving some of the funds for their son's tuition; she, who was of the Hyunti race, who could produce up to three children in a span of a thousand years before being prevented from bearing anymore young, was infertile so this claim was very false. While the headaches were still being thrown in court, and his father was dealing with them when they were brought up, the ones at home were minimal.

Phaggo and Blaiga had caused some trouble between themselves with their fighting last month, which their mother treated accordingly. When things started turning in their father's favor in court, they did something with one of the pastures—all of the Almas were released; they were free for all of six hours before being rounded up by the men who their father employed. Following this, one of the horses was "accidentally" released from her paddock. The mare was caught, but not before injuring herself, by their father, who wasn't very happy over seeing one of his horses being allowed to run the area that surrounded their property. Amadh was still experiencing some issues with his hands, but it wasn't as prominent as it use to be; he was said to have another year to year and a half to go before being free of the pain. Their mother was doing what she could to keep things running smoothly in the house, while the two employed men were doing the bulk of the rest with the animals. Phaggo was doing some work, but it was minimal—their father, while getting on him about this, was letting it go now; his brother was expected to get some chores after all the business in court was finished.

His parents knew of what he caused in October. While his mother wanted him to come home right away, his father got on him; no word on his needing to come home was said by him. When he finally did the deed that caused him to be stressed out, then let a few hours to go by following it, he rang his parents up then told them about it. He confided that he had no interest in the humans, or wanted any, and that he learned that he was best to stay clear of them when it came to any sexual impulses; his parents were proud of him for saying that, and for being honest with them in what he did after the "deed" was done. Seeing as he didn't get in a full sexual experience, he took a trip home then found someone who he was more compatible with to sleep with. Following that experience, he felt better. The need for sex was gone, as was the stress that was associated with it.

While things on Zeta Ren were good, and everything looked to be going well here, there was a curious development going on with Tazir. His brother's phone, while still going off, wasn't going off as frequently as it use to; to make up for this, someone was now leaving the house after eleven o'clock came around. When he brought this up to his brother, he was met with a look. Tazir told him to keep his mouth shut on what he saw at night—last night, when he heard the obvious signs of someone leaving the house, he got up then searched the place for the one who was missing. Rather interestingly, everyone was where they were suppose to be. He saw lumps in beds, which he knew were the bodies of his resting relatives, and he heard the sounds procured by one who was sleeping; he couldn't come up with an explanation for why he was hearing them sounds. While he thought he should mention what he was hearing at night to his parents, he was keeping his mouth shut and doing as his brother wanted him to in not spreading around what he was hearing.

"Probably the house just settling into its foundation." he told himself last night, after searching the house then finding everyone in it. "Nothing abnormal with that—this place has to be young, and not yet set on where it was built on. New places make all sorts of sounds, as do old ones."

He was just returning his phone to his pocket when the sound of a commotion was heard outside. With it heading on the hour when Angel came in from work, he assumed that she just rolled in and one or more of her children went over to speak with her. Following the sounds of the commotion, he got up then started the process of going upstairs. If Angel was home, he'd say hello after she was situated; right now, he needed to put some of his things in his duffel bag and suitcase—with there being nine days left of his being here, he didn't want to be the last one out of the house or off the planet.

"Finally decided to come out, and show the world how ugly you are?" Petra Klied was asking Guyunis when Efagti decided to go upstairs then pack some of his things.

With there being so few days ahead of them where they could visit the area's dumps, then scavenge for things to either bring home to clean then keep or give to their family, or sell in a flea market, they decided to go to the dump in Au am Rhein. Even though they restricted themselves to what they decided to bring home, they still found something to impress the ones in their household. Guyunis, who turned into such a wreck after the seating arrangements at the table were changed, didn't throw up a fuss or even become nervous when the suggestion was made; the same went when they reached the dump. He was the old returned brother that he knew and loved; he thanked the Gods for that because he didn't like the regressions, or his brother experiencing them.

Following the discovery of what they found, they left the dump then went to the Ulala ice cream shop. He basically kept his brother away from home until just before their mother came in from work; the hope was that some time away from home, which wouldn't be home for much longer, would cheer his brother up and cause him to return to how he use to be. Up to their homecoming, that looked to not be happening.

Right after teleporting in, they were stopped by their neighbor's daughter. Petra ran over like a marathon runner then started putting her hands on his brother, who shrank back at once. Along with slapping him on the arms, back, and stomach, she was taunting him. He, LhaklarVile Close Surfeit, the second oldest of his mother's offspring, and Guyunis's brother, was trying his best to keep things from escalated into that red zone. Guyunis was behind him, and he was offering himself as the victim; Petra, rather surprisingly, was ignoring him. Even though he pushed her back twice, and snapped at her to leave them be, she kept coming. Where was an adult when you needed one, or Bile, for that matter? If one or the other had come out, or was out, then came over to stop this from happening, or get Petra's attention, he would of been able to get Guyunis inside and then calmed down. There was no adult, or Bile, out here; he was on his own on this one.

"Leave my little brother be!" Lhaklar said to Petra when she reached around him then gave Guyunis a shove, which she perceived as playful.

"Wha-k-t is your problem?" Guyunis finally found his voice. Up to that moment, he was silent in a vocal sense.

"You, ha!" Petra laughed. When she lunged past Lhaklar, she made sure to trip him. Once he fell, she went for Guyunis; a "playful" slap to the thigh was given, then Guyunis's torn jeans were grabbed and then pulled, before one of the links of chain that he wore were snatched. Petra was in the process of pulling Guyunis down to her eye-level when the door to the abode that he lived in opened and TazirVile stepped out. TazirVile was fast in going to the aid of the boy who was being assaulted.

"That is enough." the man said after prying Petra's fingers from the length of chain that ran from the one that wrapped after Guyunis's shoulders. Petra gave him a look before trying to go around him; TazirVile was in the process of barring her from doing as she wanted when his wife's car was seen as driving past. "Miss. Klied—"

"She needs to be thrown in an insane asylum, man!" Guyunis exclaimed. "Always gunning for me, or looking to bring-k me down."

"Yes, seems that whenever he's outside when she is, or around her when he's in town, she makes an effort to drive him insane." Lhaklar said after getting up from the ground. Even though his mother was out of her car, she hadn't come in to stop what was going on; she was standing nearby, so she knew what was happening.

"I do not." Petra sniffed. "And, if I do, what's it to you?"

"He's my brother, it's my job to—"

"Yeah, yeah. I only do what I am because he's so ugly, and—"

"You have a thing for him."

In the months that he and his family were living under the same roof, he had noticed a few things about the girl before him that were both normal and not normal. Guyunis was a frequent talker of her; whenever they sat to supper, he'd mention how she picked on him when they saw one another. She continuously called him ugly and stupid; she slapped at him, or drove him crazy by following him around; she pulled at the things that he was wearing; and she tried to take what he had in his hands. On some occasions, she even threw what she had in her cup at him; a few weeks ago, when Guyunis was seeing a movie with Bile in the local town's movie theater, she dumped the whole of her popcorn on his head then gave him a smile before moving off. He wasn't sure if Guyunis knew or not but the girl was exhibiting the typical signs of having secret feelings for him—even though he knew this, and accepted some aspects of how it was expressed, he was still amazed by how some girls went by showing it.

Some were right nice. They treated the ones who they were interested in like a prince, and did what they could to make them happy. Some tried to put as much distance between them and the one who they had a crush on as they could. These girls, while doing the acting-out thing when they found themselves as being near that person, weren't negative or angry-acting. Some broke out in a sweat when they were close to the one who they liked, then started stammering when they were spoken to by that someone; while they experienced a degree of embarrasment from this, they didn't show any negativity to the one who they liked. The ones who were hostile towards the ones who they harbored feelings for were the ones who confused him. They drove the boy crazy with their actions, and drove him away from them, and caused their reputation to shrink in the process; even though they knew the wrong in their actions, they continued to do it. Sometimes, he liked to call it Teenage Retardity; on other occasions, he just said it was a form of female-on-male bullying. In Miss. Petra Klied's case, he saw no TR in her or her actions. She was a bully. Point blank.

When Eshal was starting in on her teenage years, he took her to the side then spoke to her on how she was to express her feelings with one of the male gender. His daughter wasn't to be mean, or hostile, with the one she harbored feelings for; if he found that she did this, he wasn't to look away or not do something to stop it. Eshal was to be presentable, and retain her and her family's image and reputation by being nice; if she couldn't do that, then she was to walk away from the one who she liked. She was to stay away over being unruly; his daughter understood this when he told her it, and was applying it when she felt the feelings of liking one grip her. Since becoming a teenager, Eshal had experienced many periods of liking another. Not once had she expressed any negative actions, or spoken low of that person; she was doing as he told her to when he spoke to her that evening after she turned thirteen hundred years of age.

Either Angel hadn't spoken to the boys on how crushes were handled by the genders or, if she did, they didn't take it in. None of the boys were connecting the dots on Petra's actions, and Guyunis had surely not acted like one who knew what was going on. He hoped that, by his coming in to stop what was going on, and then exposing what he knew, the boy would know what was going on and, possibly, do something to stop it.

"What?" Guyunis said. He gave him an odd look, then turned to look at Petra.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Petra looked over to the side. Her refusal to look anyone in the eye condemned her to what he just exposed.

"Course you do. You can't leave this boy be because you like him, and are showing it by being mean." TazirVile said.

"I do not, and am not. If he wasn't walking around, looking like he owned everything in sight, I wouldn't—" Petra started to say.

"I haven-k-t been actin' like I own everything in sigh-k-t. I'm just being-k me." Guyunis said.

"The way you're doing it is wrong." Petra shot.

"He looks to be a well-behaved boy, and doesn't seem to do anything when he's out and about." TazirVile said. When Petra gave him a hot look, he smiled then said, "And now you're reacting to my exposing your secret, and am trying to cover it up by trying to intimidate me."

"I am not! You're trying to impose something on me, and make me look like a fool, which isn't working."

"Think you're doing-k that yourself." Guyunis said. He walked towards the house then, when he reached the porch, stopped. He turned around then, smiling broadly, and looking very calm in the face, said," I'm flattered but, if wha-k-t he says is true, and you do like me, I suggest tha-k-t you forget it. You're pretty, and your family is nice, but I don-k-t much like how you've treated me."

Lhaklar followed Guyunis into the house, then Angel went in. He followed them right when Petra gave the sound of a sob then turned to run back to her own. It wouldn't surprise him if he found that she went straight up to her room then flopped down on her bed, or cried her eyes out afterwards; with Guyunis not returning her feelings, and her secret being exposed, it seemed the right thing for her to do.


	39. Chapter 39

In comparison to the consistent "drizzle" that fell on the first five days on the month, then then the ensuing four day period of decent weather, the tenth and eleventh were very fine and did well to bring in what was being experienced now. When he and his family woke up on the tenth and eleventh, it was chilly but not too chilly as to keep them inside; that happened after the temperatured dropped to nearly below zero at around noon. The temperature continued to drop during the early afternoon and evening hours of them days before rising just before the sun rose. In a way, they should of known to be on the look out for the upcoming snowstorm, which would blanket their corner of Germany for the next four days in nearly four feet of snow. While his uncle and brothers decided to don their winter wears, then go out in the snow, he and Eshal decided to stay inside where it was warm. His father surprised him and his sister by going out too; he found himself as being pelted by snowballs, then being "rained" on by snow after Bile decided to use a form of his Elemental Water powers to make a wave rush towards him. When his father, brothers, and uncle came in, they found that his mother had cups of hot cocoa waiting for them.

With it heading on three in the afternoon, his brothers decided to go out again. Eshal went with them, while their father and uncle stayed inside. Instead of going out with them, he decided to finish the model that he was building then do some more packing in his room. With there being five days to go before the move was made, he thought he should clean out his room of what was left in it that he wanted to keep; with the exception of the bedding on his bed, the furnishing, and his stereo, everything was boxed and then set to the side. He was struck with a bout of depression after packing the near-whole of his room up—with his living under this roof for over a year, he was going to miss it. The same went with the people who he use to hang around with. Astor, Ada, Seth, and Jarvis had already said their goodbyes to him, and wished him luck in the move; with their knowing he wasn't to ever see or speak with them again, they had made the decision to severe their relationship now instead of waiting until the next to final day of his stay on the planet. As far as he knew, Lazeer and his friends had done the same thing; Bile was planning on doing as they did with his friends on the fourteenth, which he thought was too soon before the move happened. During lunch, he discussed with both Bile and Guyunis on the importance of their needing to end their friendships now instead of later, so they could get over the feelings that came from them, and not be but so bogged down when the moving day arrived. Efagti said that he agreed with him, while his mother said that the decision on when they were to end their relationships with their friends was up to them; his father, on the other hand, just said for him to pipe down and leave his brothers be.

On the ninth, he went out to hunt with his father. The man, while impressed with how he conducted himself, snapped at him after he made two lewd jokes then started saying how he wished it would of been done earlier instead of then. In his mind, the hunt was hurried; despite having purpose behind it, he would of preferred for it to be done some months ago instead of a week and a day before they moved to Moas. After taking down what he did, then spell-sending it to the mansion on Moas, he and his father went home; Guyunis was asked if he wanted to go out to hunt two hours later. Surprisingly, his brother said no. Of the five of them, he feared that his father wouldn't be able to see how Guyunis did the trade that was only recently taught to him—his adopted brother, while looking to be over the bulk of his regression, was still experiencing some moments that were concerning them.

With it being -9.4° Celsius, or 15° Fahrenheit, the act of his going out to do some fishing was far from his mind. When his father approached him ten minutes ago, then said for him to get his fishing stuff together and get ready to do some fishing, he did nothing but gawk at him. It was much too cold out, and it was even colder near the water sources, so the chore of finding something to catch shouldn't be spoken of—when he said this, his father just looked at him then said for him to do as he told him to. Though confused over this development, he did as he was instructed in getting what he needed to fish with. His mother, though equally confused over his father's instruction, and reluctant to send him anywhere with him, said for him to go with his father. Seeing as she seemed to be going with his father's decision on his going out to fish, he calmed down then convinced himself that all would be fine; the old man was just taking him out somewhere where they could talk, catch supper, and get to know one another better, he thought while collecting what he needed for the trip. After getting everything together, then appearing before his father with it, he was given a further surprise when he was teleported somewhere—he preferred to teleport while being outside of the house; on this instance, his father grabbed, and then teleported him while they were inside. His surprise quickly turned to nervousness when he saw where he was after their teleporting was complete.

"Dad..." Lhaklar dropped the basket, fishing pole, and other items that he had on him then took a step back.

"Calm yourself, son. Nothing to hurt you here." TazirVile fought the chuckle while collecting his son's stuff, then going towards the river before them.

He knew where he was. In 4099, before being plucked from Earth by his father, he lived in or around here; the river was called the Green River, which was a tributary of the Colorado River, and flowed through most of Wyoming state. After graduating from the University of Telepathy, he made an effort to fish it once or twice a month. The city-turned-town of Green River, which he and his family use to live in, was named after this river, which flowed south of it. While he received a way of nostalgia over being here, he also felt fear—the shields in Wyoming state, which was one of the western states of the United States, were all down; he saw no shield around or even near him, which meant that his father brought him to an area that wasn't safe.

"Why the hell would he bring me here?" Lhaklar wondered. Along with wondering that, he wondered why he hadn't teleported home after seeing where he was; his mother would want him under a shield, and far from the Americas... Instead of doing either or both of them things, he was doing neither.

The shiver that coursed through his body was long. He bet his father, who came back to retrieve him, felt it when he grabbed him by the arm that wasn't broken. While the man was gentle in coaxing him to where his already ready fishing pole and basket was, he detected a sense of amusement from him. This gave him further cause to be concerned. Why was his father giving off a sense of amusement when his son was nervous... even fearful of his surroundings? His father, who knew the consequences of his being here, and of what happened between he and his nephew in November of last year, should know better than to bring him to any area that wasn't shield-protected or unavailable to be walked on by Master Vile's feet. He was about to rip himself from the man's grip, then turn and teleport home, when his coat was removed then he was pushed down to the rock that his stuff was propped against. Whether it was simple habit or fear he didn't know but, when he was before his fishing pole, he grabbed and then baited it; once the worm was on it, he cast it. His father, who had an ancient pole in his hand, did the same two minutes later.

"Anything good to find in this source?" his father asked after they were five minutes in on their activity.

"Yeah. Rainbow trout, Cutthroat trout, Brown trout, Largemouth bass, and Mountain whitefish. The Lake and Brook trout use to be found here but no more, due to being fished to extinction in 3123." Lhaklar replied.

"No catfish?"

"You can find them in Medicine Bow National Park."

"Let's see how much this father-son duo can catch for supper."

He was nervous, and looking over his shoulder at any odd sound that he heard, for twenty minutes before calming down. His father, instead of showing him up in them twenty minutes by catching fish after fish, was slow in bringing in what he landed—the line was "severed" on two occasions, while the third fish "got away". When he was calm, and figured that, if anything happened, his father would keep him safe, they started fishing in a normal, non-competing sense. He caught two Rainbow trout while his father caught one, and then a Brown trout; following his father's successful capture of the Brown trout, he reeled in a small bass, which he released due to its size. The two of them continued to fish in this normal, calm way for thirty minutes before he decided to up the anti in seeing how much he could best his father in what they were doing.

After sliding into the water, he cast his rod then let the bobber bob down the river a ways before reeling it in. While bringing it in, he caught something. The shine of yellowish-brown was seen, then the fish that had the hook leaped from the water; when he saw that happen, he locked himself to the task of bringing it in. In all, it took ten minutes of battle before he had it. The first fish of the "competition" was something that he had never seen before in this river; he automatically set himself to getting it stuffed after seeing it. Along with looking like a cross between a catfish and an eel, it has a serpent-like body and a single barbel on the chin. The body was elongated, and laterally compressed; the head was flat, while the nostrils were tube-like. The mouth was wide, and had many small teeth in it. While the two dorsal fins were soft, one was longer than the other; the anal fin was low and almost as long as the longer fin on the back. In all, this fish was thirty-two inches long and weighed somewhere around fifteen pounds. Once he claimed it from the water, he removed the hook then placed it in his basket; after the fish was secure, he rebaited his hook then cast it back out.

He and his father were neck-and-neck for a while on the Cutthroat trouts before, finally, he pulled ahead. Of the fish he caught, he decided to let his mother cook and then serve all but one of them. The one that he wanted to save was over twelve inches, and had to weigh somewhere around ten or so pounds; it had gold-colored flanks, that had black spots on them. There were a series of red, pink, and orange marks along the underside of the mandibles, and near the gills' lower folds. After catching his tenth Cutthroat trout, he tried for something else; ten minutes later, he bested his father by landing a huge Brown trout. By the time he had five Brown trouts in his already overstuffed basket, his father was done—he landed two Bass, then three Mountain whitefish, before noticing this. When he noticed that his father's rod was reeled in, and was put away, he decided to reel his line in then get ready to go. Seeing as how he caught somewhere around twenty fish, he figured it was time to go home.

His rod was newly reeled in, and he was going to retrieve his basket, when his father cleared his throat then spoke. It was then that he learned the purpose of this trip.

"Been watching you all while we've been here, son. Seems to me that you've got no issues in acting, or being, your age."

"Huh?"

"For the last few months, you've been concerning me. Instead of acting like your brothers in being a mid-teenager, you're acting like a grown adult. Been treating me and your uncle with disrespect, and showing your mother disrespect too. That's not the son I remember, or wished you'd become."

"The son you remember is long gone, dad. I was a young kid when mom took us away, remember? I'm not one anymore." while being honest with him, he did his best to not sound offending. He knew that, with some some parents, it was hard to let the memory of their children being young and forever dependent on them go; he fgured that this was what was going on with his father.

"No, but you've become someone who I wish you'd drop." his father turned to look at him. "One your age shouldn't carry the responsibilities that you've assumed to take up, Lhakie. You shouldn't be worrying about a job, or how to keep up with it so you don't get fired. While I'm glad to see that you're wise in handling the money you have, I'm not glad to see how restricting you are on yourself, or how you think the responsibility's on you to keep everyone happy."

"I don't think the responsibility's on me to keep everyone happy." Lhaklar said, again using a voice that was understanding instead of harsh.

"A lot's to happen in the next few years with you, son. As much as I hate to think and say it, I worry and a lot on how you're going to cope with acclimatizing to being as you should be. I'd hate to move you back to Moas then see you fall to the stress of reverting to your true age, and I think your mother would agree with me."

"That won't hap—" Lhaklar started to say.

"It will, son, if you don't make steps now to prevent it." his father interrupted him. The words that came next chilled him as well as angered him. "The act of you and your brothers returning to how you should be started when that storm took your car—while it'll be moved to the garage, neither of you will be allowed to drive it. You can remove the cover from it, and maybe sit in it, but the key to the ignition won't be given to any of you. I'll make sure of that, and of none of you being able to get in a chance to feel the effects of your nicotine withdrawals. With you five getting use to your new home, and how to live in it, and respect the ones who both live and work in it, you won't be allowed to go outside. I'll allow for the five of you to do the models that you've purchased, and even buy you new ones, and the essentials that go along with building them, but you won't be allowed to build one with each passing day. Along with—"

"Sounds like you're trying to tell me that you're planning on disrespecting mom by trying to revert how she's let us become." Lhaklar said. He didn't let his present mood go unnoticed; his father smiled, then nodded his head, when he heard the expression in his voice.

"Figured you'd say something like that. Your mother's a fine woman, and I love her greatly, but I do disagree with some of the things that she's let you and your brothers do. You and your brothers aren't the only ones to experience a bit of "trauma" after the move. Your mother will also have to acclimatize to how a wife's suppose to act, and how she needs to let me be among the parenting bodies of you guys."

"I think she knows how to do that." Lhaklar said.

"Don't get me wrong, Lhakie. I love and respect all of you guys, but there's still things that need to be changed. You, much like your mother and brothers, will find that it'll be a good one instead of a bad one. Granted, it'll take a while, but it'll all work out in—"

"Your favor, not ours." Lhaklar collected his stuff, then started to move away. He was about to teleport when a vine appeared around his ankle.

He spell-sent his things home then went to remove the vine from his ankle. Right when his hand was on it, his father stood then came at him; the man, who acquired Elemental Powers well into his adult life, and was taught how to use them by the woman who was given to him by the Gods, grabbed him by the shoulder then "gently" shoved him against the nearby tree. While struggling to get free, he was reminded of the event that happened between them in February. When he continued to struggle, and then swing his fists, the man spoke of how he was showing a good example of how disrespectful he was. He was throwing the man back while saying he didn't care, and that he shamed the respect that he had in him by telling him all of what he had "in store" for him and his family, when something was exposed that made him go still. All while hearing what the man said, the last shred of respect that he had in him evaporated; if anything, he wanted him away from him and his family, and definitely didn't want none of them to be moving in with him.

His father claimed to of seen him leaving the house at night. He also said that he followed him on one occasion, and was appalled by what he really did for a living. The man's face, which was very set in both anger and concern, told the rest of what he wanted to say before it even left his mouth—he was ashamed of him for working the trade that he did, for letting himself go in the direction that he did, and, if he didn't quit the Die Heiß und Hastig here in the next twenty-four hours, he was to expose his secret to everyone.

His mother, while letting him get a job, and work part-time, had never liked the idea of his being on the workforce. While proud of him for being mature, and trying to help her in keeping the family finances up, she had tried to get him to quit and then return to being as he was when he came home from school. After he got his fabled job at Walmart, she told everyone, Guyunis not included, as he wasn't with them at the time, that no one else was to get it into their heads about going out to get a job. His brothers were to stay as they were, she said, and they weren't to worry about where the money went. While his mother knew of his getting a job, she didn't know about his profession in the strip dancing circuit—he'd have a good, raw backside if she did... or be in the hospital. She also didn't know that, last year, he caved to saying yes to the night shift; while he was still working part-time, he went against her in doing the night shift, which she would also not approve of.

His father, along with getting on him for working what he did, and promising to expose his secret if he didn't quit it, said that he was conviscating all of what he earned in it. Instead of being allowed to use small increments of it, he'd have none of it. Until he "shaped up" towards his elders, he wasn't to see nothing more than what he received each month—seeing as how he was so "immature" and "disrespectful" of both himself and others, his allowance was to be slashed in half for the next three years. Hearing this both hurt and infuriated him—to him, the man was showing favoritism and punishing him for deciding to take on a job that'd give him a bigger quantity paycheck, which would do more than help his family get by each month. Even though he said this, the man refused to listen. He just shook his head, asked him how he could let himself go through with working what he did, then went to collect the things that he left by the river.

"Our time here, and this conversation, is over. Let's see you show some common decency, and respect, by not spreading it, or what happened when it was done." his father said after spell-sending his things to the house. "Got me?"

"Mmmm," was all he said in return. The idea of how changed his life was to be, and of how his mother and brothers were to fare during the change-over in their lives, was coming to him when the low voice of the one who he tangled with last year resounded from behind him.

"Showing the brat who's boss, or just trying to make yourself look like the one who carries the pants in the family?"

His son, who he probably hurt both mentally and verbally, jumped for the sky after Vile's voice was heard. Instead of rushing to be behind him, and take in the relative safety that he provided him, he went for one of the nearby trees. Ever since he was a child, Lhaklar was a fast climber of trees; he wasn't but so surprised over how fast he went up the tree that he picked to climb. Seeing as important things were just discussed between them, and his son would be distrusting him for a little while, he let him be where he was. While he mainly came here to talk with his son in private, and see if he exhibited certain things that teenagers did, he also came here to speak with his nephew; even though the man was ten minutes early, he didn't send him away or decide to avoid him. He approached him, and he didn't show any form of nervousness while doing so.

"You're early." TazirVile said.

"Yes, and glad too. Got in a good view of the area's present entertainment." Master Vile replied.

"For one who went through radiation poisoning, then a bout of genital warts and Gonorrhea, you look well."

"Hell of a time going through the latter two, but I thank you for saying that I look well despite them."

"Deserve what you went through with them. Learn from your mistakes in staying away from them ones who walk the streets, you'll live longer."

"Thanks for the advice now is everything according to schedule?"

"Yes. On the seventeenth, we leave for Moas. This planet won't see hide or hair of anyone of mine afterwards."

"Promise on that?"

"Keep to your end of the bargain and, yes, I'll keep to it."

"Good. It's good to see that you're not down on bargaining, or on approaching me to make one."

"When I see an opening, I go for it." TazirVile turned to look at his son, before speaking lowly and in a language that he didn't understand. "I look forward to doing business for you next week."

"Same here, Uncle." Master Vile smiled, then moved off. Once he was gone, TazirVile cleared his throat then called for his son to come down from where he was. It took him three tries before Lhaklar did as he was told; before going home, he reminded him to keep his mouth shut on what happened while they were where they were.


	40. Chapter 40

None of them expected it but, the mood in the house changed almost immediately after their father and brother came back from their trip. Seeing as how they went out to do some fishing, and came back with such a load, they figured they'd be happy or right chummy with one another. The exact opposite happened. Lhaklar, instead of speaking of how much he showed the old man up in catching what he did, or speaking of what he caught, or wanted to keep as trophies, just placed his basket on the countertop then went upstairs. Their father spent around twenty minutes with their mother before going to the living room then sitting down to watch some tv. Up to the morning of the thirteenth, when Lhaklar came down then gestured for their father to follow him, neither of them said a thing to one another; they continued to do so after coming home from whatever they did together.

For some reason, Lhaklar's decision to work right up to when they moved was dropped. He quit the club on the thirteenth; with their father going with him on that morning, they figured he knew of his working there and quitting his profession. At around noon on that day, Lhaklar called his friend who co-owned the Shoe Bot. He told him to stop calling the house and that their friendship was over; their father was in the room when he did this, so he knew of the call being made. After making his call, Lhaklar gave their father a displeased look then went up to his room. While they wanted to ask what was going on, they couldn't—their father, right after Lhaklar de-friended his friend, started in on them.

While their mother was at work, he said that no one was to leave the house or do anything constructive with their time. They were to "prepare themselves" for the excitement that awaited them on the seventeenth. Even though they weren't allowed to go out, or make the time go faster by doing something that they liked doing, they didn't do plain nothing on the thirteenth, or yesterday. Their father worked them on them days; along with making his rounds of their rooms, then getting them to pack what wasn't packed, he had then clean up the house and then the cabinets of the stuff that'd not be eaten before the move was made. All of them were told to skip feeding their pets today—the spell that put them in a type of stasis was done just an hour ago, then they were all moved to the mansion. Seeing as how they were to move here in the next two days, the man went ahead in calling the companies that their mother did business with. The water, gas, and electric were scheduled to be cut off on the morning of the seventeenth, while the cable was already turned off.

"Momma went according to plan in quitting her job yesterday." Hazaar thought while standing where he was.

The old man, while "gentle" with her, did have a few spats with her over the things that he was doing in the house, and with the few days that they had left in being in it. The Porsche was no longer in the driveway. It was in one of the parking spaces in their father's garage. After sending the car away, he approached their mother then "spoke" to her on her needing to call Mr. Leinart—the deed to the house needed to be overnight shipped to him, he said. A fight on the matter of whether that happened was done before their mother went to the kitchen, then started making lunch. With the man being so "nervous", as their mother called it when Guyunis asked what his problem was, it was no surprise that their uncle announced his decision to leave the house tomorrow, just after everyone went to bed. Their mother, after that announcement was made, got on their father again for how he was acting; she also got on him when he said they needed to go to bed earlier than their usual, and then when he continued to say that he needed to stay home instead of go out to the movie theater.

It wasn't a secret anymore that, even though it was cold, and there was four feet of snow on the ground, he wasn't deterred from wanting to see the movie that he saw in the newspaper yesterday. After Lhaklar, then their father, read the paper, it was placed on the table; seeing as no one looked to be interested in it, he picked it up then opened it. He had no more done so before noticing the ad for the upcoming November 15 movie listings that were to be shown in the local movie theather—while most of the movies were corny, or targeted towards child or feminine audiences, two caught his attention. Right after seeing the listing for the 2018 science fiction comedy film, Snakenado, he had to see it; the same went for the following film—another science fiction comedy, but this one being made in 2015 and called Lavalantula.

After seeing the ad, he nodded his head then looked up. The announcement of what he was to do from noon to three of the following day was made; he was surprised by the response that he got from it. While his mother was fine with his going to see the movie, and looked at the ad, his father wasn't and he refused to see what he was interested in seeing.

"I see nothing wrong in his going out to see a movie before we leave." his mother said to his father after he said he couldn't go to the theater.

"Have you seen the weather, Angel? With it being as cold as it is, and the snow being as high as it is, we don't need or want any of them to get or become sick before the move is made." his father said.

"I doubt if he'll spend any length of time outside, Tazzy. The movie's being played inside a building, where the temperature is better than what it is outside, so he shouldn't get sick or anything."

The subject of his going to see Snakenado was dropped yesterday for other things, then it was rekindled today at exactly ten-thirty. When he asked if he could see it, his mother was fast in saying yes; she also said for him to see the other movie that he wanted to see, which was a good surprise to him. When he started getting ready to go to the theater, his father stepped in to stop him. His mother must of been waiting for him to say no on his going out because she pounced on him right when he barred him from getting his things.

"Do I need to go through this again with you, Tazir? Just because there's two days to go before we move doesn't mean you can turn on the ones who live with you, or succumb to the stresses of the move." his mother said after coming between him and his father.

No reply was given. All his father did was go harumph, then go to where the kitchen was. Before leaving, he asked if his brothers wanted to come with him; surprisingly, they said no. Seeing as his uncle might want to see the movie, he asked him if he wanted to come with him next—with his being on his father's side in their staying inside and not getting involved in anything, he wasn't but so surprised in getting the response that he did. Following the responses given to him, he collected his coat, gloves, hat, and boots then left; he appeared before the Elchesheim-Illingen movie theater right after leaving the house, then went in and got in line at the nearest cash register.

"Thank you, come again." the cashier said to the one before him. When he stepped up to take the man's place, the cashier turned to address him. "What's your pleasure for today, Hazaar?"

"A double-feature—Snakenado, followed by Lavalantula." Hazaar said to the man who had waited on him many times when he came to see a movie in the theater.

"Better hurry—been giving tickets to see them movies all day, so not sure if there's a seat available or not." the man said while sliding him the long ticket that gave him clearance to see both films.

"Thank you, and I will."

He rushed to the room that the movies were being played in then went in. Like the cashier said, the house was packed; he still found a seat, regardless of it being so crowded. After sitting down, he took his wallet out then stashed his ticket in it—it, like the rest that he kept over the months that he was living here, would be framed and then used as a memento of his residency on the planet in the coming years. His ticket had no more been put in his wallet when the room darkened, and his wallet had no more been returned to his back pants pocket before the screen started showing the actors who were in the first movie that he was here to see.

Snakenado was something like a joke for the now-defunct television network, CNN. The network didn't expect for it to gain the interest that it did, or go through in making it. With the population reeling and ranting about wanting to see it, then being disappointed in hearing that it didn't exist, they had no choice but to make it—it was either that or watch their ratings plummet, was what he heard. With the plagues going on, not many saw it. CNN went down right after the film was done; it never returned to television line-ups after the plagues and ensuing climate change came to a close. The film was considered "B" material, but it had a good following that kept it being shown in theaters and sold in movie stores.

"Surprised they haven't remade it, or the other tornado-disaster movies that involve animals." Hazaar thought before the movie started.

If not for his being in a public place, he would of laughed himself into a coma. Like with the other science fiction comedy movies that he liked seeing, the actors were going crazy and doing crazy antics before meeting their fates. About fifteen minutes in, a Boa landed before a fat woman, who was eating one of them long, submarine sandwiches; the unassuming woman never saw the snake enter her sandwich, but she noticed something wasn't right when she went to take a bite from it. Five minutes later, a skinny woman was squashed by an Anaconda; before being squashed, she was doing nothing more than waiting for the bus. After the woman was squashed, a man screamed. This man, who was working construction, and on his lunch break, had just found himself as having a King cobra land on his lap—as expected, the Cobra bit him after he started reacting to it being on him. Before the heroes discovered what was going on, then started looking for a way to stop it, a gay couple started howling after a Gaboon viper landed in the port-a-potty that they were having sex in.

The movie had a feeling to it that was similar to the one that was present in the Sharknado franchise. With his being such a fan of them movies, he became a fan of this one too. Like with Sharknado, the cause of the snakes falling on people was based on a tornado, which spanned from a hurricane that was in the Gulf of Mexico. There was no explanaton given on how the various snakes found themselves as being in the tornado, but there was one on how the tornado was formed—with the hurricane going over mostly desert terrain, and encountering its dry climate, a sand-like funnel was birthed. Despite there being no explanation on where the snakes came from, he laughed and enjoyed what he was watching.

In order for the tornado to be stopped, the heroes had to go to space and then turn one of the space stations towards it. A blast of space air was what "killed" the funnel, while the vacuum on the station did the trick in sucking the snakes up and then sending them out to space. While the ending was stupid, he liked it—he bet them snakes traveled through space for years before being "deposited" on other planets then reeking havoc on them.

"And now for Lavalantula." he said after the first movie ended, and the credits started to roll.

The second movie was crappy, but okay. Even though he got in some laughs, he found himself as being bored. To him, the special effects were just as bad as the feel; instead of being like the other spider-themed movies where super-sized, radiation-mutated, or scienfically created spiders got out from where they were then caused chaos to all who lived in the nearest town, it was on a bunch of spiders that got loose from a Los Angeles volcano. These spiders were double the size of the humans that were in the movie and, for some reason, lava-breathing. Along with terrorizing the people that they came upon with just their presence, they killed them by either biting or breathing their lavas on them. He wasn't but so surprised when the suggestion of the volcano being blocked off was made, or of the humans using fire extinquishers to kill them. Really, the ony good part to the movie was when the gigantic queen was killed by the freezing cold water that was channeled in from the nearby Pacific ocean.

He had seen such spider films as Arachnicide, Arachnid, Arachnophobia, Camel Spiders, Eight Legged Freaks, Tarantula, and The Spider That Bit Me over the years. To him, them movies were better in comparison to the one that he just watched. Maybe the graphics on some of them could be worked on, but the plots were good and he was entertained without feeling any effects of boredom. After seeing Lavalantula, he saw it as just something extra to keep him out of the house longer—instead of counting the seconds, minutes, and then hours as they ticked away, he finally did something to pass the time away. Following the seeing of the two films, the room was lit up then everyone stood to leave; while he grumbled over doing this, he obeyed the unvoiced command in leaving.

"Instead of going home right away, why don't you go to the nearby movie store? Pick up some movies that you like, or haven't seen before." his conscious asked him.

"Don't see anything wrong in doing that. Keeps me from going home, and doing nothing but sitting on the couch until its time for a meal, then bed." he said.

He had €120 on him, so he was good to go money-wise. Before entering the store, he said the spell that'd make him have an unlimited supply of cash on him; once this was done, he went in then started shopping. In the first aisle that he went down, he picked up the 1997 horror film, Jack Frost, then its sequel. When he was nearing the end of the aisle, he found and then picked up Piranha 3D and then the two sequels that followed it. While going down the next two aisles, he picked up Gingerclown, Slither, and then The Taking of Deborah Logan; before deciding to end his trip, then pay for what he had and go home, he had a stack of movies on him that he was looking forward to watching. In all, he spent €55.50 of what he had—with the spell being done, he really didn't lose anything in revenue. After paying for his purchases, then having them bagged, he went home; it was no surprise to him that his father greeted him when he came through the door.

"I should of known." his father said after seeing what he was carrying. He then took the bag from him, then started looking through it.

"They're just a bunch of movies, dad." Hazaar said. Even though he wanted to reclaim his bag, he didn't do so. Instead, he went to the only closet that was still being used then removed his winter wears. When he returned to the hallway that the door was on, he found that his father had three of his purchases in his hand.

"I can see most of these being kept. These, though, I can't." TazirVile said. Before Hazaar could say anything, his bag was given to him then the Piranha movies were marched upstairs.

In the time that his son was gone, he encountered some issues with all of the boys in the house. Surprisingly, his wife was coming to their defense with every turn he made; while this was annoying, he told himself to be patient. In the coming weeks to months, everyone would calm down and get use to their new schedules, lifestyles, and how order in the house was to be. Seeing as the boys did need something to do, and there wasn't much for them to do in the house anymore, he went to the mansion then grabbed a few board games and a stack of cards. Lhaklar refused to have anything to do with him; even though he was proud of him for going by his word in quitting his job, he didn't like how he was acting around him. He was doing his best to keep calm with him—with his admitting to how some things were to be handled after the move was made, then coming clean on knowing what his real job was, and being firm on his needing to quit it, he had lost some of the trust that he gained in him over the last seven months. Guyunis was still experiencing his regression, and didn't look to be feeling well; he was leaving him be with the hope that he'd get over what he was feeling. Really, of the ones in the house that were to be moved soon, it was only Eshal who was staying calm and well-behaved. Efagti was doing as he should in being the support system that he needed—instead of being on his wife's side, or being in the middle of them when certain opinions needed to be voiced, he was standing with him on things and helping him out.

Seeing as how things were to be a bit crazy for the next few weeks to month or so, only Eshal would have the right of having her pets put in her room after the move was made. He wanted the boys to settle in, and get use to their new routines, before their pets were returned to them—instead of letting them rig their rooms up to accommodate them, he was thinking about giving Hazaar and Lazeer a room on the mansion's first level; he didn't want their bedrooms to get crowded, or their pets to feel cramped while being in them. With the move being a little under two days away, he was nervous... but in a good way. Things were finally coming to a close, and a new start was to take place on Moas, and he'd have the whole of his family back to where they should be—he had a feeling that he wasn't to sleep a wink tonight, or tomorrow; despite the few surprises he had in store for everyone in the coming days, he was sure it'd all work out in his favor. It had to for his family to live well, healthy, and be happy... and for him to not sweat himself into being a nervous wreck.

He, Bile, and Lazeer played two of the board games that he brought back, then he and Lazeer played a hand of cards. Guyunis stayed upstairs; when he went up to check on him, he found that he was sleeping in a near-fetal position—the way some teenagers slept still amazed him. They could be in the most uncomfortable of positions yet still sleep, or be unbothered by the aches or pains that they felt after woking up then being themselves untangled. Lhaklar either stayed in the kitchen, with his mother, or went up to his room. Most of the fish that they caught was on Moas, while a night's meal was kept here; when his son decided to calm down around him, he'd surprise him with the fish that he spoke of wanting to get preserved as trophies.

"Everything's packed, the utilities are squared away, the house is to be given to that Leinart-man, and Angel's car is on Moas. Nothing—absolutely nothing—can go wrong now. Just gotta get past the next nineteen hours and—" TazirVile was thinking while putting the movies that he conviscated from Hazaar's bag in a box in the attic, where he hoped they'd remain and disintegrate with age. Over the hours, he had grown to approve of his son's decision to go to the movie theater; even though he liked the idea of his son doing that, he wasn't okay with his coming back with a few cinematic films that were pornographic. While his sons could look at their dirty magazines, and continue to get the issues that met their fancy after they grew accustomed to their new living arrangements, they couldn't watch porn. Until they reached adulthood, they'd not be allowed to see a single bit of cinematic film on that content; he'd make sure of that. He was just putting the movies in the box, then turning to leave the attic, when his cellular went off. While wondering who it was, he phished his phone out from his inside coat pocket then opened it. "Hello?"

"Request time, Uncle. Need to hear Angel's voice, and speak with her." his nephew's low voice said.

"Can that wait until after the move's made? I would prefer for her to not be stressed—"

"No. Now. If you want me to uphold my end of the bargain, that is."

He hated being used, or taken advantage of. Even when his father was giving him grief in the period where he wasn't married, he didn't like it. If the stakes weren't as high as they were, he'd say no to his nephew's request then hang up; seeing as they were, he adhered to the request given to him. He walked his phone down to the basement, where his wife was, then got her attention. The pit of his stomach going cold didn't go unnoticed, nor did the sudden click that came into his voice when he said that someone wanted to speak to her. Angel, not knowing who was on the phone's other end, took the phone from him then held it to her ear.

"Hello? Who's this?" Angel said.

"A certain someone who's not heard your voice in over a year."

"Dad?" Angel looked at her husband; TazirVile knew at once that she was to become stressed, and wished that he could prevent it. Again, with the stakes being as high as they were, he couldn't. He let her speak to the one who was on the phone.

"Yes, and a pretty well happy one at that. I've been hearing things, and they mostly lie in you relocating soon." Master Vile said.

"Yeah, and far from you." Angel's voice sang with disgust.

"Far from me? I doubt if that'll happen, since I've still got rights in seeing you, and Bile, twice a week."

"Best be expecting them to be taken from you. With you attacking three of my sons, I won't have you coming a foot near them." Angel promised. The last she wanted was her blood-thirsty father being anywhere near her sons; if he hurt Lhaklar last year, then Hazaar and Bile this year, then what say he might do in the years to come?

"I never attacked them kids of yours." Master Vile's voice was full of lies and she knew it. She put the last of the laundry in the basket, then gave it to her husband, then leaned against the dryer. "They reacted in a negative way to me trying to remove them from the planet, and I reacted by defending myself."

"You and the courts may believe your lies but I won't." Angel said. "I know what I saw, and I believe my sons on what they've told me. You attacked them, and hurt them, and nearly took two of their lives—with that being done, I want nothing more to do with you and want you nowhere near them."

"Meh, you're still as fiery as ever." Master Vile sounded happy to hear this. "Good to know, since, one day, you'll be bringing further offspring by me into the U—"

"Never! I don't want you, or your disease-carrying ass, nowhere near me." Angel exclaimed. When nothing else was said, she went on. "I know, dad, what you've done while being on this planet. Do hope you've enjoyed yourself, and the three episodes in getting them diseases."

"You'll change your tone after you've been moved from this planet, then come face to face with me on my first visit." Master Vile gave a small, but menacing, laugh.

"Yeah, and you'll be feeling the blood coursing from your nose, then down your face." Angel said. Instead of saying goodbye, she hung up then gave the phone back to her husband, who never left the basement with the basket of clothing.


	41. Chapter 41

"It's here... It's here and it just so happens to be as nice as it is." Stefan thought while keeping his hands on the wheel.

The dreaded day had come, and not a gloomy cloud or rain-shower was in sight. Instead, the sky was blue, and pocked with white and fluffy clouds. The sun was out, and aiding in the removal of the snow that started melting yesterday. A breeze was present, but it was warm instead of cool and not making anything feel or get to being dreary. The seventeenth began just a few hours ago; for him, it seemed to be too long already. If not for the task that he wanted to do, he would of stayed home. Or not got out of bed. Seeing as his task was important, and he both wanted and needed to do it, he got up when the set time on his cellular went off. No breakfast, or cup of coffee, was consumed by him; he just got dressed, then collected what he needed for his trip, then went to catch his flight.

Seeing as the drive would take too long, and he didn't want to run the risk of missing them before they left, he purchased a plane ticket then flew from Berlin to the Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport. Once his flight touched down, he broke gear in getting out then getting to where the nearest car rental was. Ajeet decided to do the same as he in booking a flight then flying over to Elchesheim-Illingen; he was two seats down from him, and just as quiet as could be during the entire flight. Seeing as he was headed to the same place, and wanted to see the same people, he decided to follow him to his car then get in—the spell of quiet continued between them all while they drove to Elchesheim-Illingen, then to the side of the shield where their planet's heroine said she and her family would be.

"Even though he's quiet, I'm sure he's thinking." Stefan thought. "Wonder if he's thinking about the absence of the ones who use to guard the shields."

Just before the sun set yesterday, the ones who took up position before the shields left the countries that they were guarding the shields of. While some of the governments of Europe, Eurasia, and the island nations were happy, or joyous, over this developement, he wasn't. He was concerned over it happening, and curious as to where the people who use to be on the shields' other side were and what they were doing. In a way, he was half-so distracted by the development of the shields no longer being guarded to think of what was to happen today—for a few hours, that was. Once his eye landed on a calendar, or the date displayed on his phone, he was reminded of it; as was natural of him, he grew depressed by this. With his staring down the road of seeing one of his friends leave, and possibly never return, he thought he had a reason to be.

Concerns over his friend, and her children, grabbed his attention while he was being flown from east Germany to west Germany. Again, he wondered if the alien man was going to treat them right, or be brutal on changing how they liked to live their lives, or force them apart just to get their mutter alone with him and they away from her. Just two days ago, when the call came in from his friend and heroine, and he was requested to show up in Elchesheim-Illingen, he started to wonder what the future was to be for him and his race. Things were already changing around him; would they change even faster after his heroine left, or stay the same? The medical crisis in Canada was said to be over, but the issues with the aliens who were moving into the Americas was on-going, as was the erratic weather. Would they continue and, if so, for how much longer? Master Vile had dropped his efforts in getting settlements made in Europe and Eurasia; was he to restart them after his daughter and her children were off the planet, or would he just be happy with having the Americas to bully and mold into what he wanted? Curiously, the man was seen as eating in one of them high affluent restaurants last night and pacing the lobby of the apartment complex that he was living in—he did this for hours, and no one knew why and he was surely not talking on whether he was just experiencing issues in not being able to sleep or if something was up that was making him be so antsy.

"He's leaving Earth here in the next few months..."

Yes, which brought forth another concern of his. According to Mr. Surfeit, he lived in a galaxy that was ruled by Master Vile. Would Master Vile decide to go for Miss. Irene, and her children, after he moved to whatever planet he was living on or leave them be? Would Mr. Surfeit protect his family, and keep Master Vile away from them, or would he let the man do whatever he pleased with them? Master Vile had Lhaklar and Hazaar's blood on his hands at one time in the not too distant past; would he have it on them again in the future, or would his hands be clean? How about Miss. Irene; would he severe his odd marriage to her, then leave her alone, or do something to force her into being with him? While telling himself to be calm, and optimistic that everything would be fine, he didn't feel it. Being calm, and optimistic, was the last thing he wanted to be. If anything, he wanted to be assured over the Irene's being kept safe, and away from Master Vile, and happy. Maybe, if Mr. Surfeit assumed him of that, he'd feel better about the situation.

"It was in the high teens yesterday, and looks to be in the early twenties today—the snow's been plowed from the streets well, and is melting where it's been piled up at in yards." Stefan tried to put his mind on something else, and failed.

He was still trying to get his mind on something else when Ajeet moved in his seat. The chief of his country's Federal Armed Forces looked down at his hands, which were clamped between his legs; with his doing this, he thought he was trying to sustain the urge to tear up. He felt for the man, and he felt mutual on this. Miss. Irene, and her children, had touched them in a good way and, now that they were leaving, they'd be without them. He didn't need to ask the man if he received a phone call; he knew from instinct that he did, and that he didn't come to Elchesheim-Illingen, or book a flight to get here before ten o'clock, for any other reason than to say goodbye to his friend. Miss. Irene had sounded serious on his getting to the town before ten o'clock struck and he was serious on doing so; it looked like Ajeet got the memo to do the same.

From what he was told, all of their friend's children had severed their friendships with the ones who they befriended over the year, three months, and nineteen days that they were living in Germany—it was coming, and he knew it, but it was time for Miss. Irene to do the same with them.

No mention of whether they'd be able to remain in contact with one another, or see one another from time to time, was made. There was also no effort made on seeing if there was a possible way for him, or Ajeet, to call the number that they were to move to. They were kept in the dark on whether their friendship was to remain or be dropped; while he wanted to be positive on this, and think that it was for the best, he still felt horrible over it happening. Like with the months that waned between June and now, he didn't feel any harsh feelings towards Miss. Irene or her children. For all he knew, they might want to keep the friendships that they had but were being forced to not do so. The man who Miss. Irene was "married" to might be forcing them into severing all bonds that they made on the planet between July 31, 4100 and November 17, 4101—the purpose behind this, if it was happening, was unknown to him. Except for Master Vile, no one on the planet had hurt a soul of the Irene family; they had no enemies, or people who were out to get or hurt them, and they were revered very highly. While not "royally bred" by their standards, they did see them as a sort of First Family.

"First Family of Earth... good title for them, and one that they more than deserve to have." Stefan thought while pulling up beside the shield then turning the car off.

He and Ajeet did nothing but sit where they were for a while. The red glow of Miss. Irene's hair could be seen, and a sort of hushed conversation could be heard; despite this, they didn't want to get out, or go over to where they were then get their task done. If it was possible, they'd ring up the one who did the books on what was to happen on certain days of the week then get him, or her, to rewrite what was to happen today—they didn't want to do this, or go through it.

"Got a plan in order for how you're going to break it to everyone that she's gone?" Ajeet broke the silence between them.

"Not outright." Stefan answered.

"Suggest you begin thinking it, because there doesn't seem to be anyone or anything around to stop it."

Up to when the events that were to happen five minutes from now happened, he'd not have a plan in order for letting anyone know that their planet's protector, and her family, weren't on the planet anymore. He'd not know the calls that he'd make, or the words that he'd express on the airwaves, or the emotion that he'd show, or even how he was to explain that there was no way to get their Protector back. Along with all of that, he also didn't know that he'd never see her, or her family, again in his lifetime, or that it'd be a long time before they returned. The same went on their not having a very smooth go at things between now and when they decided to return. Right now, all he knew was that he was opening the car door on the driver's side of the rental then getting out. Ajeet took a deep breath in then followed him; while he was two steps behind him, he didn't dawdle or slow him up. The two of them crested the hill that obscured their view of their planet's heroine and her children at the same time that the past four hundred and seventy-six days flashed by their eyes.

Last year, on the thirtieth of July, he, Stefan Aldrich Leinart, received a call in his secondary office, which was in Bonn, Germany. The man on the other end said that he had the heroine in his office, and that she was looking for an apartment to move her large family into; upon hearing this, he said for him to keep her in his office for as long as he could. He, and his ZAP Shuttle Van, broke a record in getting to Baden-Baden, then to the offices of Maxas. When he saw her, he was amazed—beautiful, but on alert, and very reluctant to accept his help, that was his heroine. During the hours of that night, he picked her up kids then drove them around; he treated them to a meal, then to dessert, before taking them to see the houses that the real estate agent found for them. After seeing that the houses were poor in regards to who he was driving around, he called his secretary then asked for her to do a search on homes that had between five and six rooms in them. Six homes were faxed to him, then he started taking the family to see them; of the six homes that they saw, it was the last that they picked to live in. He bought them the house, the furnishing that was in it, a car, then did a personal withdrawal from his bank account; over the months, his friendship with them grew to what it was now.

He helped in keeping things low for them, and to keep everyone from panicking when the ones who took up the Rastatter Rheinaue Nature Reserve came in then settled down. He understood where they were coming from, what they went through, and didn't discriminate them for the simple reason of their being non-human. Along with helping Hazaar in getting away from the two who were assaulting him when he was at Oktoberfest II, he helped his friend in staying calm after she learned that her second oldest son was beaten by her fader and then take captive by the one who fadered him. He was the one who gave the order for the Alien Camp to be infiltrated, then fired upon, and, with Ajeet's help, he rescued Lhaklar then took him to his very frantic mutter. In December, after receiving Hazaar and Lhaklar's company in his office, then their Christmas card and gift, he helped Ajeet in getting Hazaar away from his fader and them trolls. In February, he, with the help of the American president, helped Miss. Irene in getting away from the alien who she was married to when he and them trolls appeared at that dance. Even though he was busy, he still kept up to date on them and they continued to call and be friendly with him. The Irene's were a once in a lifetime type of friend and he was quite sure that he'd never have a friend, or a group of friends, like them again.

"I, like many others, was curious about them, but I didn't bother them until the president gave me Miss. Irene's cellular number then said for me to call her before Bettina did. I never approached, begged, dreamed, or thought of becoming a friend of theirs—our friendship is very natural, and I'm very grateful for it." Ajeet thought while approaching the ones who stood before him.

While he didn't know it now, he would in the coming years—he, Ajeet Mahatma Ballal, a man born to Indian parents who imigrated to Germany some years before his birth, and had no literary knowledge to himself, would write a memoir. In it, he'd catalog the happenings of 4100 and 4101; he'd mention his friendship with the Irene's, how nice and respectful they were, and his shock over the events that'd take place soon. Even though it was published, his book wouldn't be all that widely read; the manuscript of this book, which would be found on the day of his death, which would happen when he reached ninety, would be where his will was kept. If not for the war that was happening, his wishes would be carried out and the thing that he wanted to bequeath to the government of India would reach its destination.

To the naked eye, the Irene's looked to be fine. Just standing, and waiting for the ones that they were waiting for to get to them. With his being who he was, he knew something wasn't right. Guyunis looked to be a little on the ill side, and most of the boys were fidgity, and the alien man behind them was glancing at a watch almost continuously; when he turned his gaze to the alien girl, he saw that she looked anxious. Miss. Irene, when he turned his eye to her, looked to be oddly calm—with her leaving the planet, her home, and friends, this confused him.

"Couldn't eat last night, and could barely sleep... I felt cold, and hopeless, and I still feel them two things." Ajeet took a deep breath in before stopping before the one who was to be an ex-friend of his soon.

"Glad to see you two." Angel Irene said to the two before her.

"Same here." Ajeet mustered to say.

"Good to see, and speak with, you too." Stefan said.

"Before we do that, let my sons come forward to say their goodbyes."

The boys came forward in turn. Bile first; he came close to crushing Stefan, then breaking Ajeet in half, when he hugged them. Lhaklar looked very unhappy in the face; he spoke his goodbyes slowly, then hugged them, before backing away. Guyunis, who Stefan used the word tit to once, was equally slow in saying goodbye to them. When it came time for Hazaar and Lazeer to come forward, they looked to not want to do so. Hazaar was prompted to come forward; he thanked Stefan for being so nice to him, and for helping him when he did, before going to do the same with Ajeet. Lazeer said nothing more than goodbye to them, but his hug meant the world to them and they'd remember it forever. Following the saying of their goodbyes, the boys stepped back; they had just reached their sister's side when their father came forward.

"Let me, since you're a bit emotional right now." TazirVile said.

A gust of wind was felt, then a triple-gold flash was seen before the boys disappeared with their sister. He and Ajeet stood where they were; the spot where the sons of their heroine stood still looked to have their presence on it, but they were gone and, to their belief, never to return to it. Stefan took good note of where the meeting took place in, then made the decision to rig something where the members of his planet's First Family stood on before leaving—unbeknown to him, the plaque would still be there when they returned some time down the road. They, along with the new members of their family, would see it and give him a further thanks for it being present. After the boys were gone, the man who was married to their planet's heroine came over to stand behind her; again, he looked at his watch—this action of his was alarming, and made both men grow uneasy. They were fast in seeing if they could move the woman from him, and succeeded in doing so by maybe two feet.

"I appreciate the both of you for what you've done for me and mine. Stefan, you especially for the house, its furnishing, the car—" Angel started to say after hugging the two men after being moved from where she was.

"Don't mention it, and I'd do it all over again if I was presented the chance to do so." Stefan said.

"Same here on what I've experienced with you and yours." Ajeet said. "Do hope that all goes well with you guys, and that he doesn't cause too much trouble for you."

"Thought I'd give you this, Stefan." Angel gave a rather full folder to Stefan, which he promptly opened then started through. "It's all the stuff that involves the house. The utilities are off, but it's still furnished. Since we won't be u—"

"Nice of you to do this, but I won't be doing anything with it. I'll keep it in my name then, when I decide to go to where the dead folks go, give it to my children." Stefan was fast to say.

"Also want the both of you to have these."

The envelopes were normal in size, but overly heavy. They were also yellow, and sparkly. Both were empty, which confused Stefan and Ajeet immensely. If not for their coming from their planet's heroine, they would of thought of them as being a crude joke; before they could question the items that they were just given, their heroine spoke then explained what they were.

"I know you don't understand what they are but they're something that we can keep in contact by." Angel said. Stefan and Ajeet looked up; had they just heard what they thought they did? Instead of coming here to say a formal goodbye, then see their friends off, they were here to do a simple goodbye then receive something that they could use to keep in contact with them with. This caused both men to feel warm, and smile.

"Thank you," Stefan said. He pocketed his envelope right when Ajeet did.

"How do we use them?" Ajeet asked.

"Just open them, then slide in what you've written. I'll get it, read it, then respond to it when I can." Angel replied. "I was going to do the same for my sons' friends, but they stopped being friends with them so I couldn't."

"Thank you. If you don't mind, I'll be doing something with mine—on the day that I go to the other place, it'll be willed over to the government of this country." Stefan, who'd live to the age of seventy-eight, said. When he saw the question form on his friend's lips, he responded to it before it could be asked. "That way, everyone will know what's going on with you and yours. And so we can help you if you decide to come back."

"Don't mind at all." Angel said.

"Think I'll do the same." Ajeet said. While he'd make a note in his will on where his envelope was to go, it'd not get to that destination. Due to the war that'd be going on at the time, no one in his family would receive a thing of what he willed to them; except for the envelope, which would go to auction, then be won by the Russians following his death, everything that he owned would be discarded.

"Is he okay?" Stefan asked after seeing that his friend's husband was pacing.

That was a question that Angel wanted an answer to. Ever since they went to bed last night, Tazir started acting funny. Along with pressuring them to go to bed early, he refused to let her cook anything. When they woke up, he had a spread of nothing but breakfast tortilla roll-ups waiting for them—he claimed that he wanted them to eat light so that, when they left for Moas, they wouldn't get queasy. He really shouldn't of concerned himself on that, because it almost happened when they went to eat what he made for them. Them roll-ups were sour-tasting, and green on the inside; when they questioned him on this, he just shrugged his shoulders. While they ate the meal, they didn't like it—of the ones made and consumed in the house, the one that they ate that morning was pretty bleak and unappetizing. After the "meal" was consumed, Tazir started trying to get them to leave early. She forced him to calm down, and then wait until nine forty-five came around to get them ready to leave, then she found herself as having to get him to slow down when they started going for the shield. Along with forcing him to wait for her friends to come say their goodbyes, then receive what she had for them, she had to be firm on saying no when he said for her to leave the house's deed and paperwork behind.

The act of his teleporting the boys to the mansion didn't seem right either. They could of done it themselves; with their being in a zone where teleporting was allowed, and not consuming any potions, or having any teleporting-disrupting events going on around them that'd remove their ability to do that, they could of do it with no sweat expelled. If not for his saying he had a very important meeting to attend at ten thirty, his action of checking his pocket watch once every sixty seconds would be considered off too—since he made this claim, and looked to be truthful when making it, she figured he was just concerned over not making his meeting.

Stefan and Ajeet made it to them just before ten o'clock struck. She was giving them a hug, then the envelopes that she made for them, at ten fifty-eight; seeing as she needed to hurry the goodbyes up, she decided to back away from them then initiate the move in having them go their separate ways.

"He's fine. Just worried about being late for something he's scheduled to attend. Until we hear from one another again. Hope everything goes well with you two, and your families." Angel said after reaching her husband's side, then elbowing him in the side after seeing him opening his watch again.

"Huh?" TazirVile looked up. His watch was dropped; it was never picked up by his hands, or by the ones owned by his wife.

Unbeknown to Angel, the watch was what set off the series of events that foretold her husband's dealings. Even though it'd not be retrieved by either her or her husband, it would be picked up by Stefan—with seeing how it had a part in history, the man would instruct that it be put in a museum and then labeled with the moniker of Shield Downer of November 4101. Right after the watch struck the ground, a series of explosions happened; Angel was going to retrieve it when the shields over the island nations in both the eastern and western hemisphere went up in a plume of pink flame, and she was stretching her arm out towards it when the shields over the civilized parts of Europe and Eurasia exploded in a brilliant glare of red. Ironically, the watch's hands had just landed on the new hour when this happened.

Thanks to the violent nature of the explosion that happened with the shield that she, her husband, and her friends were near, they were hurled to the side. Her husband got up quickly, while she and her friends didn't. Stefan, who witnessed the shield over Berlin going when it did in December, dropped his mouth in shock. Just like in December, the shield over Elchesheim-Illingen disappeared—it was there one second then gone the next.

After seeing that the town was free of its protective essence, Stefan stood up then turned around. He roared his rage right when his eye landed on the alien who was his heroine's husband.

"Sie hochmütig, nicht gut, Bastard! I should of known, and should of kicked you out the second I saw you!"

"Angel, come on." TazirVile said while grabbing his wife up from the ground. He was in the process of leading her away when Ajeet threw himself at him.

"You get what you want, then turn us over to your nephew? I don't think so, Videshee!" Ajeet exclaimed while throwing his fist at the one before him.

"With his being so closely related to that foul Vile, none of us should of trusted him!" Stefan roared. He then started to sputter while coming towards the warring bodies of Ajeet, his planet's heroine, and her husband. "The shield... the whole of the planet..."

"With his being of non-Earth blood, we should of never trusted him!" Ajeet's fists were right bloody, which was funny seeing as TazirVile looked to be barely touched by them. "The same as his daughter..."

"Proof to us that only our heroine and her birthed children are the ones who we should trust, or associate ourselves with." Stefan said while joining Ajeet in assaulting TazirVile.

"Yes, yes, gentlemen." TazirVile threw Ajeet from him, then used a form of his Telekinesis on Stefan to push him a distance from him, then turned to grab his wife. "For the safety of my family, I turned the planet to the one who owns it."

He had figured that this type of rage would be directed to him, which was one of the reasons to why he wanted his family off the planet before ten-o'five struck. With his concern over how safe it'd be on Moas after the move was made, and his nephew calling him, and getting all on his ass for how he messed up the climate, and threatening to make him pay for the damages, he had settled on trying to make a deal with him. He and his nephew started meeting one another in the White House on the twenty-seventh of last month to discuss matters on the both of them getting what they wanted and being happy with it—his nephew was fast in saying for him to remove the shields over the parts of the planet that he couldn't get in, while he was fast in demanding that he leave his family be if he did so. Over the last three weeks, they had haggled on this deal; Vile wanted to add the bit on his getting partial custody of Bile to it, which he refused to let him have, then he wanted to have say on whether he continued his schooling. While he bowed to the man wanting to send the boy to school, he refused to let him have all the say on what he did while being enrolled in whatever facility he was sent to. Before the bargain was agreed with, Vile added the bit on his being allowed to continue having twice a week visitations to see Bile and Angel, and that Bile be sent to school fifteen years after being returned to Moas—while it was a struggle, he agreed to it.

His nephew fronted him the bombs, while he supplied the watch that was to detonate them. For all of a week, he was leaving the house then planting the bombs before the shields' interior; with his being gone during the night hours, then coming back to the house after seven came around, this was how he discovered Lhaklar climbing in through his window. He allowed one night to pass without his planting them bombs to see where his son went, and what he did when he left the house. When he saw the strip club, then went in and saw Lhaklar working there, he grew enraged; it took him all of that night to get over his anger, and go on with putting the bombs where they needed to go. Three days ago, he rigged the pocket watch up to be a detonator; just yesterday, he set it to ten-o'five then nodded his head.

He was doing the planet, his nephew, and, most importantly, his wife a favor in doing this. In his figuring, Angel's responsibilies with Earth would be over; instead of worrying about the shields, and if they were holding up well or not, she'd be able to stay home and be the wife and mother that he wanted to watch her be. The people on this planet would be able to evolve together, and get use to living among others who weren't of their race at the same time. His nephew would be happy in knowing that the planet was fully his, and that his son wasn't a complete "failure", and that he could have contact with Angel. And he'd be able to breathe while the family did their business in the cities and towns near home. He saw a win-win situation with the bargain drawn up between his nephew and he, which was why he was so willing to make it.

While the men were fighting him, and doing more damage to themselves than to him in the process, he was being grabbed and then pulled along by his wife. Angel wasn't saying much; in fact, she was speechless. In his figuring, she wanted to go home and was trying to get him to hurry along so she could do that. With his giving her and the boys Jaboa, the edible potion that'd prevent them from teleporting anywhere, they'd not be returning to the planet anytime soon and, with the move being done, and their settling in to their new life, they'd not know much of what was going on on Earth—he knew of the envelopes that Angel made and then gave to these two men, but he was sure of her being kept so busy that she wouldn't be able to read a thing of what they sent her; he'd let her write them, and read their responses, but he'd not let her leave the planet for anything. Up to when the letters stopped coming in, and these two men died, he'd not let his wife have her ability to teleport anywhere back.

"Whoa, Angel!" TazirVile said after his wife shoved him to behind the line where the old shield use to be. Right before his eyes, he watched as she used her powers to repel the two men back; once the men were back to being behind the line, she ran over to where he was then grabbed him. Her hands had just landed on the lapels of his dark blue tuxedo jacket when a siren-like sound happened. Both he, the men who were rushing back to fight him, and the ones who called the formerly shielded parts of the planet screamed; he was about to grab his wife, then teleport with her home, when a sudden gust of electrified wind blew at him.

"What the hell?" the man named Stefan exclaimed.

"It's blowing towards us, and keeping us over here, but it's blowing towards them and keeping them out!" the one named Ajeet yelled.

The men who his nephew just ordered to the parts of the planet that were now vulnerable to him only just arrived when the breeze was felt. He watched as they tried to enter the town before him, then as they were repelled back, before it struck him on what was happening. When he realized that something was happening, and that his wife was connected to it, he turned to look at her; she flashed her fist at him when he did this.

"I knew you'd do something, and made steps to prevent it from being permenant in September." his wife said when a crack of thunder was heard, then the flash of pink was seen.

"Do you know what you've done? Angel... the de... your father—" TazirVile started to say. A slap to the face was given right when the new shields appeared where the old ones were; Angel followed her slap up with a punch, then turned to look at the shield before her.

"I could give a rat's ass for him, or his claim on this planet."

"Maybe you don't, but I do." TazirVile felt the anger rise up in him; while the two men on the shield's interior side rushed towards him and his wife, he got up from where he was then went towards her. Before she could turn towards him, or strike him, he grabbed her then teleported them to the planet that he wanted them on.


End file.
